Nobody had this on their 2025 betting line. After 5 straight losing seasons and a chaotic exit from Nebraska, Scott Frost was supposed to be chilling in coaching purgatory, or maybe just hanging around with his Rams analyst gig. But back in December, UCF dragged him back to Orlando—the same place where he once turned the Knights into a 13-0 run that made him nationally relevant. With Gus Malzahn gone, a mass exodus in the books, and a Big 12 fanbase doubting everything about them, UCF and Scott Frost walk into 2025 with no respect, 70-ish new portal bodies, and a fat chip on their shoulder.

On August 22, former NFL star turned ESPN analyst Rene Ingoglia put it plain on the Sons of UCF podcast. He recalled cruising through Louisiana when he caught some Sirius XM chatter that had him shaking his head. “And I’m down in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and I was driving in from New Orleans, and I was listening to college radio, Sirius XM, and I don’t know who the national columnist was on there, but he basically said, the Big 12 is America’s conference. It’s wide open. Any team can win it, but UCF, he actually said that, okay, and I couldn’t even tell you. I would tell you his name.” Whoever that national columnist was, that’s one diabolical thing to say on national radio. But boy, did he lie, though?

Rene Ingoglia’s pause said everything. UCF was low-key dismissed before the season even kicked off. Ingoglia explained why those words matter: “You shouldn’t need motivation. Every football player should be self-motivated, and they are, but that stuff matters. You get in the back of your mind should work a little bit harder. So, I’ll be interested to see what this team can do this year.”

What Ingoglia hit on is the oldest truth in football: disrespect is gasoline. Sure, athletes are wired to compete, but tell a locker room they’re irrelevant, and watch how they flip it into obsession. That kind of bulletin board fuel doesn’t win you games by itself—but it makes a team squeeze out extra reps in the film room, it sharpens fourth-quarter execution, and it bonds a roster that already feels overlooked.

For Frost, this is déjà vu with a twist. In 2017, he had UCF playing with that same underdog rage. But that was before his Nebraska detour—a nightmare stretch where he went 16–31 and got booed out of Lincoln. Now he’s back where his legend started, but this time nobody’s buying in. Nationally, UCF has slipped to 74th in RJ Young’s ‘Ultimate 136’, a 20-spot tumble from last year. Bryan Fischer of SI is projecting another 4–8 dud.

The irony? Frost made his name by shocking doubters. But can lightning strike twice when the Knights are coming off their fewest wins since 2013 and hiring Alex Grinch, a DC who just got torched out of USC, feels like rolling dice in a hurricane? This isn’t 2017 anymore. The Big 12 is deeper, faster, and meaner.

But Ingoglia’s point lingers—sometimes the only thing you need is that extra edge. If UCF somehow stacks wins early, that ‘nobody believes in us’ energy could turn into a revival tour. Their September 20 showdown with Bill Belichick‘s UNC already looks like a season-defining test. Win that, and suddenly all the preseason mockery looks a little less silly.

UCF starting QB: Cam Fancher (doomed or boom?)

Here’s where it gets spicy: Frost just named Cam Fancher as QB1 for Week 1, and almost nobody saw that coming. The redshirt senior transfer beat out Jacurri Brown and Tayven Jackson for the job, sealing the gig on August 21, just days before kickoff. It was only three days earlier when Frost told reporters the battle was still “ongoing.” Talk about a plot twist.

“In spring, you know, we saw a lot from all three of them that would lead us to believe they can be successful,” Frost said. “I’ll tell you the truth, I would go into the season with any one of the three and feel good that they can go win us games.” But the nod went to Fancher—a 6-foot-2 lefty who’s bounced from Marshall to FAU, now suiting up in Orlando. His résumé? 60.6% career completion rate, 5,294 passing yards, 27 touchdowns against 23 interceptions. Add in 1,122 rushing yards and 8 scores, and you’ve got a true dual-threat who can extend plays with his legs, but not exactly with throws.

Yeah, the hype isn’t unanimous. Fancher has been streaky, and UCF’s offense doesn’t exactly drip with proven playmakers. The speed jump in the Big 12 already smacked this program last season, and now they’re plugging in a QB with zero reps against Power Five defenses. That’s not disrespect—it’s reality.

The Knights don’t need Fancher to be Patrick Mahomes, but they do need him to steady a unit that ranked near the bottom of the conference last year. If he can protect the ball and lean on tempo, maybe UCF sneaks into bowl eligibility. If not? This season’s chip-on-the-shoulder talk is just noise.