Only 26 times in more than a century of college football has an FBS team won at least 25 consecutive games. Only 11 times has an FBS team won at least 30 consecutive games. What are the chances UCF joins the exclusive groups?
UCF hasn't lost a football game since they fell to Arkansas State in the 2016 Cure Bowl on Dec. 17, 2016. Their 15-game winning streak began with a 44-point demolition of FIU in Week 1 last year on their way to a 13-0 season. And with victories in their first two games of 2018, the Knights enter their Week 4 home game vs. FAU (Week 3 at North Carolina was canceled due to Hurricane Florence) with the longest active winning streak in the FBS: 15 games.
Alabama was the most recent team to win at least 25 straight games, winning 26 straight from 2015-16, and Miami (FL) is the most recent team to win at least 30 straight games, winning 34 in a row from 2000-03. The longest all-time FBS winning streak belongs to Oklahoma, who won 47 consecutive games from 1953-57.
As of now, UCF is favored in each of their remaining nine regular-season games. The biggest tests are road games vs. Memphis and USF and home games vs. Pittsburgh, Navy and Cincinnati, though none of which appear frightening.
Nine wins equal a 24-game winning streak. Another AAC Championship (over, likely, Houston, Memphis or Navy) extends it to 25 games, making UCF the 27th time in FBS history to win 25 consecutive games.
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Sorry, Knights' fans, they won't make the playoff despite being undefeated. As a result, with one bowl game, the streak's maximum length entering 2019 would be 26 games (if the North Carolina game isn't rescheduled or replaced).
The quest for 30 would get tricky. After hosting Florida A&M in the 2019 opener (27 games), they visit FAU, host Stanford and visit Pittsburgh in consecutive weeks in non-conference play. If UCF becomes the 12th FBS team all-time to win 30 straight games, holy hell did they earn it, and, finally, they'll have a playoff argument if they go undefeated again in 2019.
Will 25- and 30-game winning streaks actually happen?
Prediction: The Knights will win 25 in a row. They will run the table in the 2018 regular season and win the AAC for a second straight year. They will not, however, will not win 30 in a row. They will lose the 2018 bowl game and/or one of those non-conference games in 2019.
