There were almost as many candidates for which conference UCF would eventually surface in as there are rumored potential landing spots for Shohei Ohtani. The "winner" was the Big 12, as the Golden Knights deliver a new and fertile recruiting territory, not to mention a burgeoning Orlando regional TV market, to their new confederation which now spans from Florida to West Virginia to Utah. UCF has been ready for this next step for a while, and brings its own brand to the Big 12. Moreover, there's no reason for the Knights to change anything they've been doing on the recruiting trail and start canvassing Texas when they're already doing well enough in the Sunshine State. UCF has been able to compete with the big boys for a while, after being a consistent winner for Scott Frost, Josh Heupel, and now Gus Malzahn for much of the past decade. The time was right to make the move from the American... 

Bruce Marshall's full breakdown of UCF's 2023 outlook, which includes how he's playing their win total, can be found below as part of SportsLine's preview of the Big 12 season.

Big 12 preview: Conference winner | Baylor | BYU | Cincinnati | Houston | Iowa State | Kansas | Kansas State | Oklahoma | Oklahoma State | Texas | TCU | Texas Tech | UCF | West Virginia

2023 UCF at a glance

• Last Year: 9-5 SU, 7-7 ATS, 6-8 O/U
• Returning starters: Offense 6; Defense 6
• Win total: 7 (Over -115, Under -110)

What do you need to know about UCF before locking in your Big 12 futures bets? And which side of their win total makes for the best play? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Big 12 futures betting strategy from a veteran college football expert!