Preseason football rankings not kind to UCF for debut Big 12 campaign

UCF was picked to finish eighth Thursday in its inaugural Big 12 football season, according to the league's preseason poll as voted on by media representatives.

The Knights are the highest-ranked of the league's four newcomers; BYU, Houston and Cincinnati took spots 11, 12 and 13 respectively. All four programs officially became Big 12 members on Saturday; BYU was previously an FBS independent, and UCF, Cincinnati and Houston joined from the American Athletic Conference.

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Texas took the top spot ahead of its final Big 12 season. The Longhorns, who will defect for the SEC in 2024, received 41 of the 67 first-place votes.

Defending Big 12 champion Kansas State, which earned 14 first-place votes, was picked to finish second. Oklahoma, Texas Tech and national runner-up TCU round out the top five.

UCF must travel to Kansas State, Oklahoma and Texas Tech this coming fall, though it hosts two of the conference's bottom three teams, Houston and West Virginia.

Eight of the Big 12's ten members from the 2022 season achieved bowl eligibility, and Iowa State was the only team to post a sub-.500 record at home.

No Knights were named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team on Wednesday afternoon. Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels and Texas linebacker Jaylan Ford earned Preseason Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year nominations, while Kansas State running back Treshaun Ward — a Florida State transfer — was pegged Newcomer of the Year.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF football: Knights picked to finish 8th in debut Big 12 season