Fresh off its 13-0 season including a conference championship, UCF was tabbed as the favorites in the American Athletic Conference, receiving 19 of the possible 30 votes in the preseason media poll Tuesday.
The Knights received 25 of the possible 30 votes to win the East Division just ahead of USF (5), Temple, Cincinnati, UConn and East Carolina.
Memphis, meanwhile, earned 23 of the possible 30 votes to take the top spot in the West ahead of Houston (4), Navy (3) SMU, Tulane and Tulsa.
The preseason favorite has ended up winning the conference title once in the league’s first five seasons (Cincinnati, 2014).