ARLINGTON, Texas – Ahead of its inaugural season in the Big 12 Conference, UCF football head coach Gus Malzahn, quarterback John Rhys Plumlee, wide receiver Javon Baker, offensive lineman Lokahi Pauole, defensive tackle Ricky Barber and defensive end Josh Celiscar will preview the 2023 football season at Big 12 Media Day presented by Old Trapper July 13 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Malzahn and the five players will meet with the media and television broadcast partners throughout the day on Thursday, headlined by appearances on ESPNU and Big 12 Now on ESPN+. The Knights' schedule for the day features segements with CBS, Fox, Sirius XM, kid reporters and numerous others during the full day affair.
UCF begins its 2023 conference football schedule, for the first time as a member of the Big 12, with a pair of blockbuster assignments—with the Knights' first two league contests coming against the two most recent Big 12 champions.
UCF travels to Manhattan, Kansas, for its conference opener Sept. 23 against 2022 Big 12 champion Kansas State. A week later the Knights play their first Big 12 home game (Sept. 30) with a date against 2021 Big 12 champion Baylor at FBC Mortgage Stadium.
The UCF home conference slate features contests versus Baylor, West Virginia, Oklahoma State and Houston. The Knights' Big 12 road game list includes Kansas State, Kansas, Oklahoma (most recently Big 12 champion in 2015-16-17-18-19-20), Cincinnati and Texas Tech.
Eight of UCF's nine Big 12 games come against teams that played in postseason bowl games following the 2022 season—including Texas Bowl champion Texas Tech and Independence Bowl champion Houston.
All six UCF road games in 2023 are against teams that played in bowl games to finish 2022. The lone team on the UCF schedule that finished in the final 2022 polls is Big 12 champion Kansas State, which was ninth in the final CFP rankings and 14th in the final Associated Press poll after all the bowl games.