Drew
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SI's Preseason Top 25: Clemson claims the top spot
17. UCF KNIGHTS
Last year: 13–0 (8–0 AAC); Beat Auburn in Peach Bowl
SI Top 100 players: One: QB McKenzie Milton (No. 13)
X-Factor: In 2016, Scott Frost took over a UCF program that had just gone 0–12. Two seasons later he left a program that had just gone 13–0. Needless to say, Frost’s replacement, 40-year-old Josh Heupel, will face a different set of challenges. “It’s like my wife said: All you’ve got to do is win 14,” Heupel jokes. The rookie coach has this in his favor: his time at Oklahoma, both as a quarterback and as an assistant for nine years, gives him a solid introduction to sky-high expectations. And there’s McKenzie Milton, as talented as the best signal-callers Heupel worked with in Norman. (See Bradford, Sam; Jones, Landry.) UCF is in good hands with Heupel leading the way. — Andy Staples
20. HOUSTON COUGARS
Last year: 7–5 (5–3 AAC); Lost to Fresno State in Hawai'i Bowl
SI Top 100 players: One: DT Ed Oliver (No. 1)
X-Factor: D’Eriq King bounced between receiver and quarterback until last season, when he took over for QB Kyle Postma at South Florida and led Houston to a win. In his four starts as a sophomore King completed 65.8% of his passes and averaged 9.4 yards per attempt while rushing for eight TDs. He looked like a faster version of Greg Ward Jr., the former Cougars QB whom King revered as a teen at Manvel (Texas) High. King spent the offseason learning new coordinator Kendal Briles’s scheme, which doesn’t require that the QB be a great runner ... but if he is it’s tough to stop. The last QB as athletic as King to lead an offense—Baylor’s Robert Griffin III—won the Heisman. — Andy Staples
17. UCF KNIGHTS
Last year: 13–0 (8–0 AAC); Beat Auburn in Peach Bowl
SI Top 100 players: One: QB McKenzie Milton (No. 13)
X-Factor: In 2016, Scott Frost took over a UCF program that had just gone 0–12. Two seasons later he left a program that had just gone 13–0. Needless to say, Frost’s replacement, 40-year-old Josh Heupel, will face a different set of challenges. “It’s like my wife said: All you’ve got to do is win 14,” Heupel jokes. The rookie coach has this in his favor: his time at Oklahoma, both as a quarterback and as an assistant for nine years, gives him a solid introduction to sky-high expectations. And there’s McKenzie Milton, as talented as the best signal-callers Heupel worked with in Norman. (See Bradford, Sam; Jones, Landry.) UCF is in good hands with Heupel leading the way. — Andy Staples
20. HOUSTON COUGARS
Last year: 7–5 (5–3 AAC); Lost to Fresno State in Hawai'i Bowl
SI Top 100 players: One: DT Ed Oliver (No. 1)
X-Factor: D’Eriq King bounced between receiver and quarterback until last season, when he took over for QB Kyle Postma at South Florida and led Houston to a win. In his four starts as a sophomore King completed 65.8% of his passes and averaged 9.4 yards per attempt while rushing for eight TDs. He looked like a faster version of Greg Ward Jr., the former Cougars QB whom King revered as a teen at Manvel (Texas) High. King spent the offseason learning new coordinator Kendal Briles’s scheme, which doesn’t require that the QB be a great runner ... but if he is it’s tough to stop. The last QB as athletic as King to lead an offense—Baylor’s Robert Griffin III—won the Heisman. — Andy Staples
