UCF Football Ranked #21 in AP Preseason Top 25

UCF Football will start the 2018 regular season ranked 21st in the Associated Press Top 25.

It's the first time UCF has ever been ranked in the preseason AP Top 25. The Knights have received votes in the past, but this is the first time we'll see a number next to UCF's name when they open the 2018 season at UConn on Thursday, August 30th.

Coming off a 13-0 season where UCF finished #6 in the AP after claiming a share of the National Championship, this should be considered a shoo-in, but it wasn't. Several AP voters either placed UCF low on their ballot or left them off completely, most notably Brett McMurphy of Stadium:

Now, as we discussed last week, it is completely reasonable to not place UCF in, say, the top 10. But to leave UCF off one's ballot is preposterous.

Yet, that's exactly what six voters did:

• Brett McMurphy, Stadium
• Soren Petro, Sports Radio 810 WHB in Kansas City
• Matt McCoy, 610 WTVN-AM, in Columbus, Ohio
• Michael Lev, Arizona Daily Star
• Don Williams, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
• Jim Alexander, The Press Enterprise (Riverside, California)

UCF's reaction was, well, what you'd guess:

And of course, there are good reasons for that. Hence:

Some other things of note:

UCF's highest rankings were from Blake Toppmeyer and John Wilner, who both placed them at #12. Two others had them in the top 15.

The most frequently-appearing place for UCF on the ballot was 20th, by nine voters. Eight put them at #22 and seven each at #19 and #21, where they landed. You can check out that distribution via College Poll Tracker here.

The Knights also start the season ranked #23 in the Coaches' Poll.

What do you think? Vote below: