Central Florida Knights Dangerously Overlooked BCS Bowl Team

blake bortles — Jeff Griffith – USA TODAY Sports

The champion of the AAC is guaranteed a spot in the BCS this postseason as an automatic qualifier conference. Right now, the Central Florida Knights are in complete command of the conference race heading into their final two games of the season and are in line to qualify for their first ever BCS bowl in their debut season in the AAC. But despite leading a BCS conference with a near-perfect 9-1 record this season, UCF can’t seem to get any respect. That spells bad news for whoever draws the Knights this January in the BCS.

While the AAC is not highly regarded as a strong football conference, UCF has handled their business this season. Their only loss came at the hands of the No. 10 South Carolina Gamecocks in a game that UCF led for a good chunk of the day. The Gamecocks had to rally in the fourth quarter and just barely escaped Orlando with a 28-25 victory. Other than that close loss to a top-10 team, UCF has been perfect.

They finally jumped into the BCS conversation when they went on the road and beat the then-No. 8 Louisville Cardinals. Since then, they peaked in the BCS standings at No. 17 two weeks ago but have lost ground since then, dropping one spot in each of the last two BCS rankings to their current spot at No. 19. Despite winning their games, including a dominant showing over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights last week, the Knights keep falling in the BCS standings, showing a clear lack of respect for this team and what they have accomplished.

This Knights’ team is balanced on offense with a good defense to match them. They’re a complete squad who has been tested in some big games this season but still can’t seem to get any respect in the BCS standings. Will they finally open up some eyes this January in a BCS bowl?

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