UCF Tough Early Tests
UCF made plenty of noise last year when they started off the season 14-0. That winning streak included victories over Florida, South Florida, Miami and Massachusetts. The non-conference schedule this year is just as tough, but Coach Donnie Jones has quite a few new faces to break into the system. Transfers Jeff Jordan, Tristan Spurlock and Josh Crittle are all expected to play a major role on this team from day one. With experience at major colleges, those three should be ready to go and they should fit in nicely with the returning players after sitting on the sidelines last season.
But for UCF to make the NCAA Tournament, they will need another good showing prior to conference play and actually be consistent during C-USA games. Trips to Florida State and hosting Old Dominion will be huge games for the Knights, but the biggest tests will likely come over Thanksgiving weekend in the Bahamas. I’d take Orlando or the Bahamas for my Thanksgiving mashed potatoes. For UCF and Coach Jones, it will be all business.
The Knights start off the tournament against College of Charleston, who is not a bad team at all. They have a little rebuilding to do with the loss of Andrew Goudelock, but that will not be an easy game. If they beat the Cougars, the Huskies of Connecticut would likely be next. That could be a huge statement game for UCF, much like Florida was last season. However, that may be asking a little too much so early in the season from a team that needs to fit in all their new transfers. UCF did start a ton of different players last year and never really got into a consistent rotation. That inconsistency did not help UCF during conference play when they started to slump, but it did give a lot of players starting experience. The Knights will have to get past those inconsistencies early in 2011-2012 or they could be playing catch up the rest of the year. Back in the Bahamas, the Knights will join Harvard, Massachusetts and Utah in the horribly named “Battle 4 Atlantis” tournament (it’s not just the Bahamas claiming to be Atlantis…I’ve seen the road, it’s not manmade, but it’s more the use of 4 instead of four…this is a college tournament, let us at least spell things properly). If the Knights run into one of those teams in the final game, they should be able to head out of the Bahamas with a 2-1 record. If they don’t, UCF needs to show Memphis that they are not the only team in C-USA or it will be another trip to the CBI or NIT and not the NCAAs.
Read the in-depth men’s basketball preview for this team
