UCF is certainly NOT for real

People were all over UCF's early season success like they were the next coming of present day Butler or back in the day Gonzaga.  Guess what?  They ain't.  Yes, they're 14-1.  It's still January folks.  Teams fall apart once they cakey early season schedule concludes.  It's inevitable.  Maybe they'll stay relevant, maybe they won't. 

They do have Marcus Jordan (MJ's son).  16.3 points per game.  Good for him.  Good for them.

Sure, they had some good wins - a 57-54 over then #18 Florida, an 84-78 win over ACC pretender Miami (FL), a 65-59 win over Big East doormat South Florida.  So I guess if they only played teams from their home state, they'd be a contender.  (They also beat Stetson, Bethune-Cookman, and West Florida)

They had a road game at Houston (9-6, 1-1 CUSA) and came up on the losing side, 76-71.  They won the C-USA opener over Marshall, which was a good win (at home).  So much for the dream season.  A good Southern Miss team is on deck, also on the road.  A trip to #21 Memphis looks towards the end of the month.  Following that, UAB (12-3) heads to Orlando before they visit the UTEP Miners (13-4).  It isn't gonna be easy for the Knights.

So for them to think they've actually accomplished anything is absurd.

Here's the Strength of Schedule for the C-USA teams:

Tulsa 45 - won by 12 at Stanford
Marshall 46 - beat VMI (not really a good win)
UCF 81 - beat Florida, at Miami (FL), at UMASS
Rice 89 - played Texas to a 3 point game in Austin
UAB 112 - beat Arkansas by 5 in Fayetteville
UTEP 144 - beat Michigan and Texas Tech
Memphis 150 - their marquee win is Miami (FL)
East Carolina 153 - they've beaten no one important
Southern Miss 222 - won by 2 at Cal
Houston 265- beat #19 UCF and won at TCU
SMU 326 - irrelevant since beat 3 of their 9 wins are against non-D1 teams
Tulane 345 - beat UNO, SMU, and Rice (='s no one)

When you hear "Conference USA" you think Memphis - and they've got the 7th toughest SoS in conference.  C-USA - a conference lacking that big win.  The conference RPI is 11th - behind the Mountain West (BYU, San Diego St., UNLV), the Atlantic 10 (Temple, Dayton, Xavier), Colonial (Old Dominion, George Mason) and the Horizon League (Butler, Cleveland St.).  You're definitely not a big boy conference.

First off, beat Memphis.  You're unproven and unchallenged.  Wait until March.  They'll probably get into the tournament.  And get "upset" by a lower seed.