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Tough Road Schedule for UCF Football in 2016

Bright House Networks Stadium
Panorama of Bright House Networks Stadium during the 2013 UConn game (Photo: Jeff Sharon)

The American released the 2016 conference football schedule, thereby filling out UCF's remaining schedule for the upcoming season.

Here are the dates and opponents with some notes (NOTE: Times have not been released for any games just yet):

2016 UCF Football Schedule

Date Day Opponent Location 2015 Record Series
September 3 Sat. South Carolina State HOME 7-4 1-0
September 10 Sat. Michigan Ann Arbor, Mich. 10-3 1st Meeting
September 17 Sat. Maryland HOME 3-9 1st Meeting
September 24 Sat. FIU Miami, Fla. 5-7 2-2
October 1 Sat. East Carolina Greenville, N.C. 5-7 4-10
October 7 Fri. Tulane HOME 3-9 5-2
October 15 Sat. Temple HOME 10-4 2-1
October 22 Sat. UConn Storrs, Conn. 6-7 1-2
October 29 Sat. Houston Houston, Texas 13-1 5-2
November 5 BYE WEEK #colspan# #colspan# #colspan# #colspan#
November 12 Sat. Cincinnati HOME 7-6 0-1
November 19 Sat. Tulsa HOME 6-7 3-6
November 26 Sat. South Florida Tampa, Fla. 8-5 2-5
December 3 Sat. AAC Championship Game TBD - -

Notes

  • Only one game is currently scheduled for a non-Saturday date (Friday, October 7th at home vs. Tulane).
  • Combined records of home opponents: 36-39
  • Combined records of road opponents: 47-30
  • The Cincinnati game is both schools' first-ever meeting in Orlando.
  • Three opponents are coming of double-digit win seasons (Michigan, Temple and Houston).
  • Two non-conference games are against Big Ten opponents (Michigan and Maryland).
  • Family Weekend is September 17th vs. Maryland.
  • Homecoming is October 15th vs. Temple.
  • The Tulane game (because it's on a Friday) will likely be televised on ESPN2 or ESPNU.
  • The lack of mid-week games on national TV is a function of UCF going 0-12 last year.

Instant Breakdown

I alluded to this on The Knightline Podcast last Friday, but based on a cursory examination of the schedule, here's how I'm predicting the slate will go for UCF, six and a half long months ahead of time:

Likely Wins: South Carolina St., FIU, Tulane, Tulsa,

Likely Losses: Michigan, Houston

Toss-ups: Maryland, East Carolina, Temple, UConn, Cincinnati, South Florida

So the worst-case scenario I'm looking at here is 4-8, while the stars-and-planets-aligning-everything-going-right-four-leaf-clover-in-our-armor best-case scenario could be as good as 10-2.

What say you? Tell us exactly which games you think UCF will win in 2016 in the poll below (You can select more than one, of course).

[poll id="6"]