The Big 12 media day wraps up on Thursday, and UCF will be front-and-center answering questions.
The UCF Knights are moving to the Big 12 after playing in the AAC for the last 10 years. With the Knights entering the Big 12, many fans are wondering how their team will stack up against Power 5 schools.
With their media day set to kick off later on Thursday afternoon, let's take a look at five burning questions ahead of media day.
Are the Knights ready for the step-up in competition?
There's no bigger question that the UCF Knights will answer than how they will prepare to now be in the Big 12 and play Power 5 schools.
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UCF went 9-5 last year and 6-2 against the AAC but lost to Duke in the Military Bowl. The Knights' losses came to Louisville, East Carolina, Navy, Tulane and Duke.
The Knights have shown some promise, but UCF could be in for a rude awakening on their Big 12 debut.
Can Gus Malzahn get back to the promised land?
Gus Malzahn has been a solid coach in the NCAA ,and in his first year in 2012 with Arkansas State, he went 9-3.
After one season there, he left to go coach Auburn for eight seasons. He went 67-35 overall and took Auburn to the 2014 National Championship Game but lost to Florida State.
Malzahn has been a proven winner in college football and is now in his third season as the UCF Knights' head coach. Malzahn has never had a losing season in his coaching career, but the pressure will be on to prove he can still coach at a high level in the Power 5.
Can John Rhys Plumlee take the next step?
The starting quarterback for the UCF Knights is John Rhys Plumlee who spent three seasons with Ole Miss but never won the starting job. Ahead of the 2022 season, he entered the transferred portal and went to UCF, where he won the starting quarterback job.
Last season, Plumlee threw for 2,586 yards, 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions. At times, he made some costly mistakes, and against stiffer competition now that UCF is in the Big 12, will Plumlee step up?
Will Barber & Celiscar continue their dominance on the D-Line?
A bright spot for the UCF Knights last season was their D-Line that features Ricky Barber and Josh Celiscar.
Last season, Barber had 48 tackles, three sacks and four pass deflections. Celiscar, meanwhile, had 53 tackles, three sacks, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
If the Knights are going to get to the quarterback and stop the run, Barber and Celiscar will have to fare better than they did last season.
Javon Baker coming into his own with UCF
Javon Baker left Alabama after not getting the role he wanted, and he sure found out with the UCF Knights.
Baker and Plumlee have a solid connection, as the receiver caught 56 passes for 796 yards and five touchdowns last season. Baker is a game-changer, and if the connection with Plumlee only improves, it should help the Knights offense stay in games in the Big 12.
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