UCF’s path through the 2026 ESPN Events Invitational is set, and the Knights will get a pair of high-profile matchups against power-conference opponents in late November.
The tournament schedule was finalized Monday afternoon, with UCF opening against Boston College on November 26, Thanksgiving Day. That game will be the first meeting between the programs and is set for 1:30 p.m.
ET. The next day, UCF will take on Georgia at 7 p.m.
ET in its second game of the event. Both games will air on ESPN2.
The invitational will be staged at State Farm Field House at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside the Walt Disney World Resort in Kissimee, Florida. UCF is one of four teams in the 10-team field that made the NCAA Tournament last season, joining Georgia, Akron, and Wright State.
The Knights enter the season looking to build on a 2025-2026 campaign in which they went 21-12 and earned their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2019. UCF made the field as an at-large No. 10 seed, then fell to UCLA 75-71 in the opening round. The team also finished seventh in the Big 12, its best placement since entering the league three years ago.
Johnny Dawkins, who received a contract extension that runs through the end of the 2028-2029 season, said at the time, "I want to help these student-athletes not only get better on the court, but to become a part of this campus and community. I want to teach them the importance of leaving a legacy," Dawkins said at the time of the extension.
UCF’s 2026-2027 Big 12 slate includes nine home games and nine road games. The non-conference schedule already includes home dates with Florida Gulf Coast, Yale, South Alabama, Georgia Southern, Mississippi State, Jacksonville, American, FIU, and Towson. Road games are set for Vanderbilt and Indiana, which will be the first-ever meeting between the schools, and the Knights will also play a neutral-site game against Virginia Tech in Fort Lauderdale.
Before the regular season begins, UCF will travel for preseason exhibitions against LSU and Kentucky in October. The Knights open the 2026-2027 regular season on Monday, November 2 in Orlando against Florida Gulf Coast.
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UCF Faces A Bigger Test Than TCU In First Big 12 Road Game
UCFs Big 12 start could not have gone much better, with the Knights handling TCU in their league opener and now turning the page to a far tougher assignment. The next stop is a road trip to face No. 20 Houston, a noon ET kickoff on ESPN2 that will give Scott Frosts team its first conference game away from home and a quick read on how it travels in a league that can punish every misstep.
Houston coach Willie Fritz has already taken notice of what UCF brings to the table, while Frost knows the Cougars present a different kind of challenge than the one the Knights just passed. The matchup pairs a UCF team looking to prove its opening win was a start, not a peak, against a Houston group that has become harder to run on and more dangerous because of the way it disguises things on defense. [Read more 🡒]
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For a UCF team that wants balance and knows what is ahead, that kind of buy-in matters. The Knights are headed into a demanding stretch and will need more than perimeter production from their receivers if they are going to keep pace, which is why Derrys willingness to embrace the less glamorous assignments stands out. He may be leading the group in yardage, but the bigger question for UCF is how much his all-around game can help carry an offense that is about to be tested in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
UCFs Big 12 Road Suddenly Looks Tougher Than Fans Expected
UCFs Big 12 path keeps picking up more weight, and the latest results around the league only add to the sense that the Knights early conference stretch will demand a lot. Houston closed out its non-conference slate with a 42-28 win over Georgia Southern and moved from No. 25 to No. 20 in the AP poll, a reminder that the Cougars are carrying real momentum into league play. Oklahoma State also kept climbing after beating West Virginia 41-24, with quarterback Drew Mestemaker and running back Caleb Hawkins helping the Cowboys secure a Top 25 spot.
For UCF, that matters because the schedule is starting to look less forgiving by the week. The Knights already saw Georgia State bounce back from its loss in Orlando by beating Northern Illinois 35-14, and the teams waiting on the other side of the conference line are bringing more national respect with them. One of the biggest tests arrives when the Cowboys come to town, and they are headed to Orlando with a ranking that only makes that date look more daunting. [Read more 🡒]