UCF was again a hot topic during ESPN's College Football Live.

On Monday, national college football reporter Joe Schad talked up the merits of UCF as a Big 12 expansion candidate. A day later on Tuesday, host Chris Cotter showed the Knights some love with his ranking of the top football programs in the Sunshine State.

"Here's how I see the state of Florida right now in terms of how strong the programs are today in this football-rich state," Cotter said. "Florida State is No. 1 clearly, the defending national champions. I've got Central Florida at No. 2. They've had three 10-plus win seasons out of the last four. George O'Leary, a lot of stability down there in Orlando. Florida is No. 3 based solely off the 4-8 year and losing to Georgia Southern. Miami, mediocrity, no swagger down there. South Florida is an absolute mess. There probably should be a big gap between four and five. It should be like four and eight and put somebody else in between."

The analyst panel again included Schad and Trevor Matich.

"I used to live in Orlando and cover college sports," Schad said. "If you had told folks back then in 2000 that they're going to be at some point in time ranked in Chris Cotter's top five ahead of Florida and Miami they wouldn't have believed you. So much has changed. New stadium."

Cotter piped in: "Central Florida has got it going on. How sustainable is this?"

Schad: "The first thing I think about is how last year wasn't a fluke. George O'Leary has done a terrific job. They've competed and won championships in Conference USA. They went to the Big East, now called the American. It's constantly evolving. Louisville is leaving. This year, even without quarterback Blake Bortles and running back Storm Johnson who accounted for 87 percent of their team offense last year, they're still expected to compete for a conference championship with Houston and Cincinnati and going to a top-tier bowl like the Fiesta. Let's give them credit. A wonderful program-changing win against Baylor."

Cotter added the Knights "took South Carolina to the brink."

Matich then weighed in with his thoughts about the program.

"They have a chance this year to show it's not just Blake Bortles," Matich said. "You talk about winning 10 games or more in three of the past four years. Their defense has held opponents under 23 points per game for the last five years. They've had great consistency there. They get to play Penn State and Missouri this year. If they split those games, they can make the case this is a program and not just one guy who's in the NFL."

Later, the panel agreed that Florida then Florida State were the two best college jobs in the state. But what about No. 3? Schad said it was still Miami, but Matich believes it's UCF.

"Why UCF right now is a better opportunity than Miami is because how recruits see the program," Matich said. "UCF just won the Fiesta Bowl. They're a BCS bowl champion. The last time Miami played in a BCS bowl these rising seniors that are recruits now were seven years old watching more Power Rangers than college football. The sex appeal is in Orlando."