UCF Hoops To Host Oklahoma November 27

Thanksgiving weekend is shaping up to be an exciting weekend on campus at UCF, as in addition to the War on I-4 on Black Friday, UCF Men’s Basketball will host Oklahoma on Saturday, November 27th, per Oklahoma who announced their non-conference schedule on Thursday.

The Knights were supposed to host Oklahoma last season on November 28th, but the game was cancelled due to positive COVID tests with the Sooners.

This is the second game of a home-and-home between the Knights and Sooners with Oklahoma defeating UCF 53-52 back on December 21, 2019 in Norman.

Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Things have changed since the two teams met in Norman.

Oklahoma will be led by new head coach Porter Moser who comes over from Loyola Chicago, taking over for Lon Kruger who retired. Moser led Loyola Chicago to the Sweet 16 (2018, 2021) including a final four appearance in 2018.

The Sooners will have new faces on the court as well, as they lost leading scorer Austin Reaves to the NBA Draft. Oklahoma also lost Brady Manek and De’Vion Harmon, who both entered the transfer portal and will play next season at North Carolina and Oregon, respectively. The Sooners will depend on key transfers in all-ACC and former Duke defender Jordan Gordwire as well as Ethan Chargois, who started 86 of 108 games in four seasons at SMU.

The UCF Knights on the other hand will have their core back from last season’s team, including Isaiah Adams and Darius Perry, who spoke with media about decision to come back to UCF and withdraw from the NBA Draft.

Along with Adams and Perry, the Knights will also have C.J. Walker and Brandon Mahan who also withdrew from NBA Draft to return to UCF. They join returners Darin Green Jr., Dre Fuller, and Jamielle Reynolds that figures to be a deep Knights team with high expectations going into the season.

The Oklahoma game is the second marquee date that we know of for UCF Basketball schedule for 2021-2022 season. The Knights will also play Florida State on December 18th at the Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise, Florida, which was announced back in May.

We also know the Knights are scheduled to play at Auburn this season as part of a home-and-home, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein. The Knights defeated Auburn last year in the season opener, 63-55, on November 30th.

Florida State, Auburn, and Oklahoma figures to be the top three non conferences games on the Knights schedule the Tigers and Noles projected to be Top 25 team while the Sooners despite the new faces figures to still be in the mix to make the NCAA Tournament.