PHILADELPHIA — They may have faded as the calendar flipped to March, ultimately resulting in a 75-71 first-round NCAA Tournament exit against storied UCLA, but the UCF Knights proved they belonged among college basketball's elite in their third year as Big 12 members. Regarded as one of the country’s premier conferences, the Big 12 sent eight teams to the Big Dance — regular-season and tournament champion Arizona and seven at-larges, including the Knights, making just their sixth appearance in the program’s 41-year Division I history. Not bad for a squad that did not return a single player who scored a bucket in 2024-25 and was picked to finish 14th in the league's preseason poll. “A team...
