UCF To Face Two AP Preseason Top 25 Teams This Season

The Associated Press released its Preseason Top 25 Poll on Monday afternoon.

Four Big 12 programs will start this season ranked in this poll, one less than the five that were ranked in the Top 25 Coaches Poll last week. Defending champion Arizona State remains ranked the highest, still at No. 11. The other three teams are Kansas State (No. 17), Iowa State (No. 22), and Texas Tech (No. 23).

Texas is No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 for the first time, just ahead of No. 2 Penn State.

See where other top teams rank. https://t.co/qXJ5AkXKho
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 11, 2025

Five other Big 12 teams received votes for the poll. BYU, Utah and Baylor, in this order, received the most votes of the teams not ranked in the Top 25. Meanwhile, TCU and Colorado received five combined votes. The UCF Knights got no votes.

Date	Opponent	Rank
Aug. 28	vs. Jacksonville State	-
Sep. 6	vs. North Carolina A&T	-
Sep. 20	vs. North Carolina	-
Sep. 27	@ Kansas State	No. 17
Oct. 4	vs. Kansas	-
Oct. 11	@ Cincinnati	-
Oct. 18	vs. West Virginia (Homecoming)	-
Nov. 1	@ Baylor	RV
Nov. 7	vs. Houston (Space Game)	-
Nov. 15	@ Texas Tech	No. 23
Nov. 22	vs. Oklahoma State	-
Nov. 29	@ BYU	RV

Just like on the Coaches Poll, UCF's conference-opener on the road against No. 17 Kansas State is its highest-ranked opponent of this season going into it. The only other AP Top 25 team the Knights face this season, as of now, is No. 23 Texas Tech.

However, both Baylor and BYU, also on UCF's schedule, are bubbling just under the Top 25. The Cougars were ranked No. 23 in last week's Coaches Poll.

Barring any postseason meetings, UCF dodges facing off against the Big 12's highest-ranked team, No. 11 Arizona State, and Utah, a squad just below the Top 25 alongside Baylor and BYU. However, all four of the Knights' games against teams that received votes in the Preseason AP Top 25 Poll are on the road, including their conference-play opener and regular-season finale.

UCF will have three weeks of non-conference matchups to prepare for that conference-opener, starting with its season-opener against Jacksonville State on Aug. 28.

UCF Faces Three Top 25 Teams After Initial Release Of Coaches Poll

The first major college football poll of this season was unveiled this afternoon.

While the preseason Top 25 AP Poll is still one week away, the Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll was released this week, indicating where the sports coaches think FBS programs stand entering the upcoming season.

Five Big 12 programs found themselves ranked in this poll, none of them making it inside the Top 10. Defending champion Arizona State is ranked the highest at No. 11. The remaining four all reside in the 20-range: Kansas State (No. 20), Iowa State (No. 21), BYU (No. 23) and Texas Tech (No. 24). Additionally, Kansas and Baylor, while not making the Top 25, still received votes.

This could put the UCF Knights in a tough spot to start conference play, as they will have to hit the road to face the No. 20 Wildcats, then return home to host Kansas.

However, after a month of facing four unranked teams, though Baylor did receive votes, the Knights will have to go on the road to face two Top 25 teams in the season's last three weeks: No. 24 Texas Tech and No. 23 BYU.

Despite facing four of the Big 12's five ranked Top 25 teams, UCF dodges the highest of them in No. 11 Arizona State.

The Knights will not have to face any Top 25 program during their non-conference slate, which can give them three games to prepare for their first Big 12 test. The first of that non-conference slate is their season-opener on Aug. 28 against Jacksonville State.

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