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. “‘Star Wars’ is coming out in December. There are things that are happening all over that can get our guys’ attention. Our guys are fighting it by showing up and going to work. Right now we have an environment where everybody loves being in the building, they love practicing. That’s rare but I see it every day with the way we start practice and the energy in practice that guys are having fun. You get a lot done when you have that attitude.”

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 night.

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.

Still, the Knights insist they are focused on the task at hand. Last season’s last-second loss to Temple, which went on to win the American, helps that cause, offensive tackle Wyatt Miller said.

“I think we’ve done a good job as far as this whole season of knowing we are taking it week by week and not overlooking an opponent because that’s when something bad happens,” Miller said.

UCF’s breakout season in year two under Frost has also led to the former Nebraska quarterback and Oregon offensive coordinator becoming one of the hottest names on the job market. Especially in Lincoln, where the struggling Cornhuskers may end up parting with coach Mike Riley.

The next couple weeks have a chance to be very eventful for UCF. But first Temple.