re: UCF grads jeer commencement speaker who praised AI

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They all now have legit ties into well paying Florida industries that some would say exceed many SEC opportunities.

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My nephew graduated from UCF. He now works for NASA. I don't know his ACT scores but I can guarantee it is significantly higher than 16.

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I wouldnt say she even really praised it, she said embrace it and prepare in so many words

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This. The AI bus isn't coming in as hot and fast as tech bros like to project that it is but make no mistake, it is coming. You can either start getting dressed and be ready to get on the bus, or you can get ran the frick over by it.

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I bet the avg ACT at that school is a 16, some really dumb kids. Is it even a real school? Always seemed like some grand canyon U type shite

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You couldn’t be more wrong. Outside of Vandy, Florida, and UGA, UCF blows the rest of the SEC out of the water.

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Admissions

Acceptance Rate: 44.71%
SAT Range: 1210–1340*
ACT Range: 25–29*

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Acceptance about the same as Auburn, SAT and ACT worse, which puts UCF behind Texas, ATM, and Tennessee in addition to the other SEC schools mentioned above. So you were wrong Hog Zealot.

As for USF's AAU designation, that stopped being meaningful decades ago when it became more political correctness than academic rigor.

Hey Grok, where would UCF rank academically if the school was in the SEC?


UCF would likely rank around 10th or 11th academically among the 16 SEC schools, based on U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 National Universities rankings (the most commonly referenced metric for this kind of comparison). ?
Current U.S. News 2026 National Rankings Snapshot
• UCF: #117 (tie) overall. It’s a large public research university with strengths in innovation (#15 Most Innovative), online programs (top 10 nationally in several categories), and certain graduate/professional areas, but it sits in the mid-tier for overall national universities. ?
SEC Schools Ranked (Approximate Order from Available Data)
1. Vanderbilt — #17
2. Florida / Texas — #30 (tie)
3. Georgia — #46
4. Texas A&M — #51
5-7. Auburn / Missouri / Tennessee — #102 (tie)
5. Oklahoma — #110
6. UCF (hypothetical) — #117
7. South Carolina — #127
8. Kentucky — ~143 12+. Lower: Alabama (~169), LSU (~169), Ole Miss, Arkansas, Mississippi State (further down). ?
UCF would slot in just behind Oklahoma and ahead of South Carolina in this lineup. Rankings can have ties and minor year-to-year shifts, but this is a solid estimate for 2026. ?
Important Context on “Academic Rank”
• Rankings aren’t everything: U.S. News weighs factors like graduation/retention rates, faculty resources, selectivity, research spending, peer assessment, and alumni giving. UCF excels in access, innovation, and serving a huge, diverse student body (nearly 60,000 undergrads), plus strong outcomes in high-demand fields like engineering, computer science, and optics. But it has lower selectivity and per-student resources than many flagship SEC schools. ?
• SEC schools vary widely — Vanderbilt is elite/private; Florida/Texas/Georgia/Texas A&M are strong flagships; many others prioritize athletics, big enrollments, and regional impact over top-50 prestige.
• Other metrics (e.g., research output, specific programs, or Washington Monthly social mobility rankings) could paint UCF more favorably in some areas, as it’s grown rapidly as a research institution.
Bottom line: In the SEC, UCF would be a solid mid-to-upper-mid academic performer — respectable but not elite like the top 5-6. Its real strengths (scale, innovation, affordability for Florida residents, and career prep) would still stand out, much like several current SEC publics. Hypotheticals like this depend heavily on the ranking system used!

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This is the first time UCF or USF have been presented as high quality schools.

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I live in Florida and while neither are any UF, UCF and USF are no joke. Both are growing universities that are taking advantage of the massive growth in East Central, West Central and South Florida.

Yes many in state students at UCF and USF are students who got rejected by UF or knew they wouldn't get into UF so they didn't apply. But that's not a good comparison as UF is a Public Ivy, right up there with UNC, Michigan, UGA, Texas, UC-Berkeley and UCLA.

Within the SEC, only Vandy, UF, UGA, Texas and Texas A&M are clearly at a different level compared to UCF and USF.
Missouri and Auburn are slightly above UCF and USF.
Schools like Tennessee, South Carolina, Kentucky and Oklahoma are right on par with UCF and USF.
Finally, I would actually put UCF and USF above LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss, Miss State and Arkansas.

USF is probably slightly better than UCF academically, but mostly it depends on the degree. UCF is better than USF in terms of student life. UCF, to their credit, made efforts starting probably 20 years ago to really start to shed the "commuter school" image and added a ton of student housing and athletic facilities on campus. That's the one aspect holding USF back. Their campus isn't as student friendly and some of their sports, particularly football, still play off campus. USF is probably more of a commuter school than UCF but is finally starting to address that as well.