The UCF Knights take on the Kansas State Wildcats. Check out our college football odds series for our UCF Kansas State prediction and pick. Find how to watch UCF Kansas State.

The UCF Knights are playing their first conference game as a member of the Big 12 Conference, joining Houston, BYU, and Cincinnati as first-year members in 2023. Coach Gus Malzahn has a team which won on the road at Boise State earlier this season, but Kansas State will not be easy. KSU is a tough team but also an angry team after it lost a heartbreaker to Missouri on a 61-yard field goal on the final play of regulation. The Wildcats will be intent on avoiding two consecutive losses.

UCF played Villanova last week, an easy tune-up for this Big 12 opener. Will that week sharpen the Knights, or will it leave them underprepared for this game? That is one of the more interesting questions to consider entering this conference clash.

Here are the UCF-Kansas State College Football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.

College Football Odds: UCF-Kansas State Odds

UCF Knights: +5.5 (-115)

Kansas State Wildcats: -5.5 (-105)

Over: 52.5 (-110)

Under: 52.5 (-110)

How To Watch UCF vs. Kansas State

Time: 8:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm PT

TV: FS1

Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why UCF Could Cover the Spread

Kansas State quarterback Will Howard might not play in this game. Howard is a talented and capable quarterback, and if he can't play, freshman Avery Johnson will relieve him. That could be a big drop-off in quality, but it will definitely be a big drop-off in terms of experience and simple familiarity with the pressures of live college football action.

UCF was able to beat Boise State in a low-scoring game, 18-16, a few weeks ago. Relying on defense to win a close road game looks like the template and roadmap the Knights need to follow once again.

Kansas State was not able to separate itself from Missouri last week in a generally sloppy game. The Wildcats often struggle in the early parts of a season before they get better in October and November. Kansas State lost to Tulane early last season at home. This could be the 2023 home game KSU loses in the first half of the college football season.

Why Kansas State Could Cover the Spread

The Kansas State defense should be able to dominate the UCF offense on Saturday. UCF starting quarterback John Rhys Plumlee will not play in this game. He is unavailable due to injury. The two teams both face quarterback injury problems, and given that UCF's offense struggled against Boise State — a team which is probably not as good as Kansas State — the Knights' offense figures to also struggle against KSU, especially with Plumlee out of the lineup. Plumlee is a very fast quarterback who can beat defenses with his legs more than his arm. Not having that running dimension could prove to be critical in swinging the pendulum toward Kansas State in this game. It's a home game for Kansas State at night. It will be tough for UCF to handle this environment.

Final UCF-Kansas State Prediction & Pick

One starting quarterback will definitely be out for this game, and there's a chance it could be two. With unproven, untested quarterbacks playing in this game — and given that UCF beat Boise State in a game which had 34 total points — the under looks like a very solid play.

Final UCF-Kansas State Prediction & Pick: Under 52.5