UCF football leaps back into top 25 ranking

The UCF Knights may not have played on the gridiron last weekend, but they did something no other team in the American Athletic Conference did: get ranked.

The Sagarin ranking system, created by statistician Jeff Sagarin and frequently displayed alongside the longer-lived AP Top 25 poll and USA Today College Coaches poll, ranks teams based on a combination of computer formulas, rather than subjective evaluation.

Based on strength of schedule, likelihood of winning at home and on the road, coupled with various other factors, the Knights are ranked No. 22 for this week. That ranking puts them higher than any Division 1 football team in the nation that's currently 0-1.

The Knights lost to an unranked Penn State 26-24 on Aug. 30, but only by a field goal kicked as the clock expired. Penn State is ranked No. 31 in the Sagarin rankings. Incidentally the University of South Florida is ranked No. 100 in the Sagarin rankings.

But in the two largest polls, the AP and USA Today, the Knights haven't been in the top 25 since they finished their most successful season in team history with a 12-1 record and a dominating upset of Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl.

Last week the Knights took a bye as the rest of the NCAA pushed into week two of their season. They'll be traveling to Missouri (ranked No. 32 in the Sagarin ranking) for a noon kickoff Saturday.

The Tigers, who emerged as a surprising juggernaut in the SEC last season, played a light schedule in their first two games of this season, bowling over South Dakota State 38-18 Aug. 30, and cruising by Toledo on Sept. 6 by a 49-24 score.

In the Toledo game Mizzou amassed 502 total yards, at one point scoring four unanswered touchdowns in one and a half quarters of playing time. Second year quarterback Maty Mauk, now his team's official full time starter, threw for 325 yards and picked up another 36 on his feet. Mauk has more touchdown passes, at eight, than any quarterback in the Football Bowl Subdivision, NCAA football's highest level.

But it wasn't all about Missouri; the TIgers allowed Toledo, one of only four teams to lose to a struggling Florida Gators team last year, to amass 410 yards, including 148 rushing yards by running back Kareem Hunt alone.

There's still no word on whether UCF will be fielding its top running back, William Stanback, against Missouri. Without him against Penn State the Knights only rushed for 24 yards, gaining almost all of their yards in the air courtesy of backup quarterback Justin Holman. Justin Holman, who led the Knights on a comeback that nearly nipped Penn State, will start for the Knights against Missouri. It will be his first start in a Knights uniform.