ESPN College GameDay will originate in Orlando this week, with a marquee conference game as the backdrop, to highlight a big week in The American
by Dick Weiss
American Athletic Conference football will receive the star treatment this week.
Beginning this past Sunday night, when CBS’ 60 Minutes ran a poignant piece on twin brothers Shaquill and Shaquem Griffin, the former UCF stars who are now teammates on the NFL Seattle Seahawks, The American is poised to go viral, concluding with ESPN College GameDay’s originating from Orlando Saturday morning as a prelude for ABC’s prime time East Division showdown between the unbeaten 11th-ranked Knights and No. 19 Cincinnati at sold out Spectrum Stadium.
The country will once again be able to judge the American on its own merits rather than preconceived notions.
ESPN chose Orlando for its GameDay site instead of Yankee Stadium, where Notre Dame will face Syracuse Saturday. The three-hour pregame show, could will be a huge infomercial for The American.
The decision was announced via Twitter by analyst Kirk Herbstreit. “This fan base has been waiting for the last two years to recognize their program and bring College Game Day to Orlando. And this is the week that it happens,” Herbstreit Tweeted.
A few weeks earlier, Herbstreit suggested that other teams such as Appalachian State and Fresno State were more deserving of higher rankings from the College Football Playoff committee. Both of those teams have since lost, but most panelists on the show have nonetheless suggested that the Knights lacked the strength of schedule to be a serious national championship candidate, even if they finish unbeaten in the regular season.
One exception has been Lee Corso, a popular Florida State alum and Orlando resident, who has been an advocate for the Knights. When UCF fans showed up to the ESPN production of GameDay prior to the Florida-Georgia game in Jacksonville last month, Corso was quick to point out one sign in the crowd that showed a picture of Herbstreit’s wearing a UCF national championship hat.
The debate will rage on as long as the Knights remain undefeated, but UCF players and coaches are leery of thinking too far ahead and prefer to concentrate on the moment. “This is going to be a great opportunity to put our logo out there for the whole country to see,” said Knights’ first-year coach Josh Heupel, who got a taste of that on a regular basis when he was a starting quarterback for Oklahoma. “It’s going to be electric inside the stadium, but it’s been electric all season.”
UCF and Cincinnati won’t be the only matchup worth watching. Four teams are still alive for The American’s West Division title in a race that will become clearer after Friday. The week starts Thursday when Tulane visits Houston in a game that will leave the winner alone in first place, perhaps if only for a day. On Friday, SMU, which is tied with Tulane and Houston, will play dangerous Memphis, which is a game behind the leaders.
UCF is ranked No. 12 in the CFB poll. If the Knights win out, they will most likely be selected to play in a major postseason game for a second consecutive season and the third time in six years.
But nothing comes easy in The American these days, where the emergence of Cincinnati, SMU, Tulane and Temple, which has rebounded from a 0-2 start to sit a game out of first in the East, have filled the conference with drama and made the big games in the final two weeks must-see TV.
We saw that last year when UCF defeated USF, 49-42, in the final regular season game, outscored Memphis, 62-55, in double overtime in the league’s championship game the following week, and defeated Auburn, 34-27, in the Peach Bowl to finish 13-0.
The American has always been an exciting, offensive-minded league, with five teams scoring over 50 points in a game this season. Four teams — UCF, USF, Cincinnati and Houston — have been nationally ranked. Six teams are already bowl eligible and two more – SMU and Tulane – are close, with five wins each.
All eyes have been on UCF since the start of the season. The Knights have won 22 straight games and could become the first team since Nebraska in 1994-95 to put together back to back perfect seasons.
It has not always been easy. The Knights had to come back from a 30-17 halftime deficit to beat Memphis, 31-30, at the Liberty Bowl last month. And their defense has given up substantial yards in the last two games, to Temple and option-fueled Navy. But, so long as versatile quarterback McKenzie Milton stays healthy and their offense, which is averaging 44.2 points, keeps purring, the Knights should competitive in every game they play – regardless of the opponent.
As for Cincinnati, the resurgent Bearcats remained in the thick of the division race following a 35-23 victory over visiting USF last Saturday. Michael Warren II, a sophomore running back whom coach Luke Fickell described as “born for November,” rushed for three touchdowns and caught a pass for another score, setting a school record with his 18th touchdown of the season.
“This is what I wanted for these guys,” Fickell claimed. “The opportunity to be in an atmosphere like that, to play for championships.”
SMU, which started the season 0-3, has come into its own in the last four weeks, including a 45-31 win against Houston and then racing to a 62-50 victory over UConn.
The Mustangs will need all the offense they can muster against a dangerous Memphis team, which has had an up and down season, but has an All-America-caliber running back in Darrell Henderson and already has scored over 50 points five times this season.
It’s going to be a wild weekend in the American. It usually is this time of year.