Knights add old conference foe, Kent State, to ’23 schedule

UCF football has scheduled an old Mid-American Conference opponent in two years, according to a report from FBSchedules. com.

The Knights are set to host the Kent State Golden Flashes at the Bounce House on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, the report said.

The 2023 season is expected to be UCF’s first in the Big 12 Conference, assuming the move from the American Athletic Conference goes as planned. Kent State still plays in the MAC, a conference that UCF competed in from 2002 to 2004.

The Golden Flashes will receive a $900,000 guarantee for the contest, according to the copy of the contract acquired by FBSchedules.com.

The addition of Kent State to UCF’s 2023 schedule fills a hole in the future schedule by providing the Knights with an opponent that plays in the Football Bowl Subdivision. UCF only had two other games on its nonconference slate.

The Knights will travel west for a return game at Boise State on Sept. 9, 2023, and are expected to host BYU on Nov. 11, 2023. However, with the Cougars and possibly UCF joining the Big 12 that year, there’s a possibility that the game will turn into a conference game.

With Kent State and Boise State on the 2023 non-conference schedule, UCF will likely only need to add one more team for that season. According to CBSSports.com, the Big 12 is expected to stick with its current nine-game conference schedule when the conference adds UCF, BYU, Houston and Cincinnati.

With two FBS teams already scheduled and nine Power Five games part of the new conference slate, there’s a likely chance UCF will look to add a team from the Football Championship Subdivision to the schedule. The Knights hosted FCS Bethune-Cookman this past season and have South Carolina State on the schedule next year.

UCF and Kent State have split their football series at two victories apiece. UCF won the first two games in 1997 and 2002 before the Golden Flashes won back-to-back games in ‘03 and ‘04.

While Kent State fills a hole in UCF’s schedule in 2023, athletics director Terry Mohajir still has plenty of work to be done. Assuming UCF plays 9 conference games once in the Big 12, the Knights still need to add 1 game in 2024, 3 games in ‘26, and 2 in ‘27 and ‘28.

UCF hosts Liberty in 2024 before traveling to Gainesville that season to face the Gators. The following season, UCF has its non-conference slate filled with Maryland, North Carolina, and Florida Atlantic.

The future schedules beyond 2025 get slimmer and slimmer, with UCF traveling to UNC in 2027, hosting Maryland in ‘28 and Florida in 2030. The Knights plan to travel one last time to Gainesville in 2033.