⚡ CFB Dashboard

- WR: UCF wide receiver Tyren Hornes has quickly emerged as one of the most exciting players in this Knights' offense.

- QB/WR: UCF's wide receiver corps is primed to take a major leap from last season, and one of the foundational pieces is current sophomore wide receiver Waden Charles.

- Injury: The college football season is finally upon us in Orlando, making it the perfect time to get our last-minute UCF record predictions in for the upcoming season.

- OL: Great work by the o-line.

- Pick/market: Fourth quarter begins.

- Waden Charles enters 2026 with a larger role after playing all 12 games as a freshman, starting the final five and producing 26 catches for 290 yards. - Charles finished 2025 with at least 30 receiving yards in each of UCF's final three games and generated multiple conversions in late-game and long-yardage situations. - UCF expects to rotate a young, versatile receiver group whose members can play inside or outside and execute the full route tree. - Charles described quarterback Alonza Barnett III as a proven leader who reads defenses, throws effectively and creates plays with his legs.

- The explicit UCF season projections range from 7-5 with a 4-5 Big 12 record to 8-4 with a 5-4 conference record. - UCF's strengths are returning production, quarterback stability and unusually deep secondary personnel, while both lines and replacing its edge-rushing production remain the principal concerns. - The outlook depends heavily on quarterback Barnett remaining available for most of the season, with the writers describing the season as resting on his shoulders. - UCF is expected to handle Bethune-Cookman and Georgia State and has identified Oklahoma State and Kansas as its most plausible conference road wins, while the Pitt trip is viewed as the difficult early swing game.