For every program outside of Boise, it’s a fleeting honor to be considered one of the “it” teams of college football’s Group of Five conferences. With fewer resources and thinner rosters, the margins of error are often smaller for the Group of Five’s best than they are at most Power 5 programs. UCF’s 25-game winning streak has vaulted the Knights to the top of the G5 heap, but as the stars of 2017’s breakthrough 13–0 team matriculate out, head coach Josh Heupel has his work cut out for him maintaining that supremacy.
At this point two offseasons ago, few would have predicted UCF was about to run the table, but some had already pointed out that the broader football-watching population should be hopping on the bandwagon.