No. 14 UCF faces Temple ahead of AAC showdown

No. 14 Central Florida is getting talked about a lot these days.

Where are the Knights ranked? Should they be ranked higher? Are they a lock to play in a major bowl if they win the American Athletic Conference? Can they go undefeated? If UCF does go undefeated, should they be considered for the College Football Playoff? How about coach Scott Frost? Is he going to Nebraska? Or maybe Florida? And, oh man, that game against No. 23 South Florida the day after Thanksgiving, with a spot in the AAC title game on the line. Won’t that be epic?

So much to talk about, and none of it has to do Temple, UCF’s opponent on Saturday.

“There is a lot of distractions and you have to be able to ignore all of them,” Frost said.

This weekend in Philadelphia, UCF (9-0, 6-0) faces Temple (5-5, 3-3) in a game that has no bearing on the conference championship race. The AAC East will be decided next Friday in Orlando when UCF plays rival USF (8-1, 6-1). The Bulls set up the winner-take-all game by beating Tulsa on Thursday.

For UCF, it comes down to this: Beat the Bulls and win the conference title game at home the following week and the Knights would be a virtual lock to play in a New Year’s Six bowl as the highest-ranked conference champion from outside the Power Five.

After spending most of the first half of the season searching for a QB, firstyear Temple coach Geoff Collins seems to have found one in Frank Nutile. The junior took over as starter three games ago and has passed for 803 yards since.

“He brings some leadership ability, some poise,” Collins said.