NCAA Tournament March Madness

#49 UCF

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Projected seed: 10

UCF’s resume makes sense as a middle-of-the-bracket team because its best moments prove it can win big while its worst moments keep it from climbing higher. Signature victories such as a neutral-site triumph over Pittsburgh and true road wins at Texas A&M and Kansas State, combined with statement results against Kansas and Texas Tech, show the offense can beat quality opponents away from home. Those high-water marks are offset by damaging defeats, most notably a blowout at Houston, a lopsided trip to Iowa State, and an ugly road loss at Cincinnati, and those results expose a defense that has been inconsistent even as the offense produces. With a road test at BYU and upcoming games against Baylor, Oklahoma State and West Virginia still available, there are clear chances to replace bad losses with resume-making wins or to fall further, so the current placement reflects both the program’s marquee wins and its avoidable setbacks.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3Hofstra94W82-78
11/8Vanderbilt13L105-93
11/11Florida A&M328W97-60
11/14@Texas A&M37W86-74
11/17Oakland158W87-83
11/20(N)Pittsburgh108W77-67
11/25Quinnipiac208W102-91
11/29VMI360W82-57
12/7Towson179W86-61
12/17Mercer180W81-63
12/20FGCU246W102-80
12/23(N)FL Atlantic121W85-80
1/3Kansas19W81-75
1/6@Oklahoma St73L87-76
1/11Cincinnati46W73-72
1/14@Kansas St97W82-73
1/17Arizona3L84-77
1/20@Iowa St8L87-57
1/24@Colorado69W95-86
1/27Arizona St63W79-76
1/31Texas Tech16W88-80
2/4@Houston6L79-55
2/8@Cincinnati46L92-72
2/14West Virginia59L74-67
2/17TCU50W82-71
2/21@Utah109W73-71
2/24@BYU2118%
2/28Baylor4861%
3/3Oklahoma St7370%
3/6@West Virginia5945%