UCF's 2019 football schedule dropped on Thursday and it looks like another favorable setup for the back-to-back American Athletic Conference Champions.
Thursday, Aug. 29 or Saturday, Aug. 31 - Florida A&M
Saturday, Sept. 7 - at Florida Atlantic
Saturday, Sept. 14 - Stanford
Saturday, Sept. 21 - at Pittsburgh
Saturday, Sept. 28 - UConn (Family Weekend)
Friday, Oct. 4 - at Cincinnati
Bye Week
Saturday, Oct. 19 - ECU (Homecoming)
Saturday, Oct. 26 - at Temple
Saturday, Nov. 2 - Houston (Space Game)
Friday, Nov. 8 - at Tulsa
Bye Week
Saturday, Nov. 23 - at Tulane
Friday, Nov. 29 - South Florida
Saturday, Dec. 7 - American Championship Game
-UCF's season opener against FAMU has the unique distinction of being slotted for two potential days - Thursday or Saturday. While games against FCS opponents are not usually picked up for television, I'm told the American's TV partners have expressed a serious interest in the game and if it is televised, they'd want the game on Thursday night. If TV ultimately passes, UCF will move the game back to Saturday.
In the past UCF has made the decision to move up openers to Thursday, but this time, if it happens, it would be a TV-directed move which UCF has no control over. Since there is a chance it will be played Thursday, UCF didn't want to announce it for Saturday and then a month or two later adjust to say it's being pushed back to Thursday after some people might have already made travel plans.
-Not including FAMU which is still up in the air, UCF has three games slotted for weekdays: Friday, Oct. 4 at Cincinnati, Friday, Nov. 8 at Tulsa and Friday, Nov. 29 vs. South Florida. Even if FAMU is on Thursday, that's still a great scenario for UCF, avoiding weekday home games in the meat of the schedule.
Games vs. South Florida have been played on Black Friday going back several years now, so that's not a surprise. That's not a typical "weekday" game anyway as most people take off the end of that week. If the season opener ends up being on Thursday, that's certainly not ideal for out-of-town fans, but that would be the only true weekday home game.
-UCF does have short weeks for those Friday road games as they play Saturday home games the week before. The two Friday opponents, Cincinnati (at Marshall) and Tulsa (at Tulane) play Saturday road games the week before, so it evens out.
-Another aspect that could be viewed as a positive is there are no back-to-back home games. Consecutive home games have at times impacted attendance, particularly on the student side. More time in between home games should accelerate demand and stave off any potential football fatigue from non-diehards. It wasn't really an issue last year though as the schedule featured two blocks of three consecutive home games (FAU-Pittsburgh-SMU and Temple-Navy-Cincinnati).
-UCF is trying to get to a point where they play seven home games annually as they did last year, but just six on the home slate this year. FAU is a close game though (less than a three hours' drive from Orlando) so there should be a strong UCF representation in Boca Raton for that one.
-Potential cold weather games are somewhat minimized. UCF's first two conference road games against Cincinnati and Temple will be played in October when temperatures should be milder. Colder weather could be an issue for November road games at Tulsa and Tulane, though it shouldn't be anything drastic.
For instance, last year Cincinnati hosted South Florida on Nov. 10 and kickoff temperatures were below freezing (28 degrees). UCF's 2014 road loss at UConn has been attributed by some to poor weather conditions as temperatures lingered in the 30s while accompanied by a steady rain.
-There are two bye weeks on the schedule this year and both should come at opportune times - the first in mid-October after the sixth game and the second in mid-November just in time to recharge for the final two games, or three if UCF makes the conference championship game.
-Lots of UCF fans have circled the Tulane game as a road trip destination and should be happy with the placement as it's on the Saturday before Thanksgiving week.
-For those who are Orlando City Soccer fans, there is just one home game conflict. On Saturday, Sept. 14, UCF is hosting Stanford (time TBA) on the same day OCSC hosts the New England Revolution (7:30 p.m.).
