Florida's only Big 12 program gets its national preseason moment this week. UCF is among the eight teams featured Tuesday, July 7, as Big 12 Football Media Days opens a two-day run at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, with live coverage on ESPNU from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Central both days, a Big 12 Studios simulcast, and part of the first day on ESPN2.
Media Days is the league's annual football kickoff, where programs send their head coach and selected players to face reporters and set the storylines that carry into training camp. Sixteen programs appear across the two days, eight per day.
The Knights' contingent
Head coach Scott Frost brings four players to the podium: quarterback Alonza Barnett III, defensive back Jayden Bellamy, linebacker Lewis Carter and offensive lineman Preston Cushman.
Barnett is the name Florida fans will want to hear from. The James Madison transfer was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 2025 after throwing for 2,806 yards and 23 touchdowns while adding 589 yards and 15 more scores on the ground. Frost said this spring that Barnett was rehabbing and being held out of early practice as a precaution, which makes his July availability report one of Tuesday's storylines.
Carter gives the room a homegrown thread. The linebacker is a Tampa native who starred at Tampa Catholic before beginning his college career at Oklahoma and transferring to UCF.
A familiar Gator on the same stage
Northeast Florida fans will recognize another Tuesday name: DJ Lagway, the former Florida Gators quarterback, is listed by the Big 12 with Baylor after a 2025 season in Gainesville in which ESPN credited him with 2,264 passing yards and 16 touchdowns. His first extended public turn in Baylor colors comes from the same Frisco stage.
