This is an 8* SPECIAL on UCF.

I got down early and have a slightly unfavorable line, but regardless, I think that the UCF Knights can keep this one more competitive than what the oddsmakers are trying to lead us to believe.

The UCF Knights are 3-2 and the Cincinnati Bearcats are 5-0. Clearly the Bearcats are the better team, but I think they're going to leave the backdoor open down the stretch here for the hungry Knights to comfortably sneak in through.

The Knights are off a much-needed 20-16 win over East Carolina last weekend.

UCF quarterback Mikey Keene so far has 427 passing yards this season with three TD's and two INT's. Johnny Richardson and Isaiah Bowser each have 200-plus rushing yards this year.

The Bearcats are making it looking easy so far, last week they routed Temple 52-3.

Desmond Ridder has 1,304 yards, 12 touchdowns and two interceptions, while Jerome Ford has 520 rushing yards with eight rushing touchdowns.

Admittedly, the Knights haven't been the same without Dillon Gabriel under center, but they're more than capable of making this a game. I mean, I'm not calling for an outright upset or anything, but certainly I feel this is too many points for Cincinnati to be giving up here.

The Bearcats are trying to maintain their perfect record now, and not worry about running up the score. They have a few more tough games remaining, so I just don't see them keeping them foot on the gas in the second half.

And as I eluded to at the start, I think that'll leave the back door open here for this hungry Knights team to comfortably sneak in through.

The play is UCF.

Good luck, NP