UCF's 2015 non-conference schedule is coming more into focus after the recently-announced agreement with Stanford. The Knights will travel out west next year and welcome the Cardinal to Orlando in 2019.

That leaves one vacancy, a game that must be played at Bright House Networks Stadium. Previously scheduled for 2015 were the return game at South Carolina and a home date with FIU.

"We have trouble getting games," UCF coach George O'Leary said recently. "That's probably why we're going out on the west coast (to play Stanford). I'm more interested in who's going to be the home opponent. We need a good home opponent... I know (UCF associate AD) Dave Hansen has basically called a lot of people trying to get games. They had openings and they chose somebody else. We've got to keep working. I'd much rather have that problem than the problem of everybody wants to play you."

As for Stanford, fans may enjoy the road trip to the Bay Area and Napa Valley but O'Leary didn't seem too enthusiastic about it, acknowledging he'd rather play teams closer to home in areas they actively recruit.

"I don't see us recruiting more in the west," O'Leary said. "Obviously it's a great opponent. But I'd much rather see us get opportunities to play teams that have something relative to recruiting for us as far as what's going on. There's a lot of teams from the Midwest to the East to the South that would be great opponents."

Scheduling is a two-way street though and UCF has seemingly struggled to close deals. According to play-by-play voice Marc Daniels on his radio show The Beat of Sports, Syracuse verbally agreed to a series but stalled signing the contract, only to ink a deal with USF instead. The Orange will visit Tampa next season and welcome the Bulls to upstate New York in 2016.

"David Hansen, who is in charge of scheduling, has called everybody and has tried to get games," O'Leary said on his radio show. "It's just very difficult. People don't want to come to our place. It's a tough place to play. Fans should be clapped on because they've made teams do some thinking on that. It's hard to get games. But we've got to stick to our guns. It can't be one-and-done. Can't do it. We have a stream of revenue. The administration has to work on that. David Hansen is doing that. I'm not sure who else is."

What's the ideal non-conference schedule?

"The way I look at it, one is a game you have a good shot of winning if you play well," O'Leary said. "Two others if you play well you're going to win the game. The other, if you beat them, you're on the front page. Don't schedule teams where you're putting 65, 75 points. That's not a game. You can see why people don't go to the game. You want to be competitive. That's the only way you get better as a football team."

UCF has two of those "front page" caliber games in 2015 as both Stanford and South Carolina have consistently been top 10 programs. Though FIU did beat UCF in 2011, that's a game that should typically be a win. The Panthers are 5-23 since the 2012 season.

So who could potentially be the fourth non-conference opponent for 2015? An FCS game, like Bethune-Cookman this season, remains a possibility. UCF has been aiming to sign a home-and-home agreement with an FBS team, but it must begin next season in Orlando.

Much like we did in May , I revisited FBSchedules.com to check which schools have openings for 2015 and could begin a series on the road.

In May, 48 schools had at least one vacancy and that list has since been cut down to 24. The list of FBS schools that could potentially travel to UCF to begin a home-and-home series is very small-- essentially Boston College, Kentucky and New Mexico. A fourth option could be Louisiana-Monroe, who have the option to play a 13th game because of their road trip to Hawaii.

Of course, those schools would have to be willing to play and there must a mutually available date.

Unless something changes, UCF's three non-conference games are scheduled for three of the first four weeks of 2015: FIU (Sept. 5), at Stanford (Sept. 12) and at South Carolina (Sept. 26). Sept. 19 is open, but it's possible UCF may prefer that to be an open date after making the coast-to-coast trip to Stanford.

Boston College could conceivably play an early ACC game, but according to FBSchedules.com the Eagles have nothing scheduled for the first three weeks of the season (Sept. 5, Sept. 12 and Sept. 19).

Kentucky has Louisiana-Lafayette scheduled for their opener on Sept. 5 while Charlotte is TBA. Their rivalry game with Louisville is now being played Thanksgiving weekend.

New Mexico has nothing scheduled for the first weekend of the season, so it's likely they're looking for a game to fill that date, unless it becomes a Mountain West game.

Boston College and Kentucky would likely be games UCF would be very interested to play. During the summer, O'Leary expressed a desire to play more games in the Northeast. New Mexico, due to distance, would seem an unlikely partner.

Breakdown of schools with 2015 vacancies

(To make this a comprehensive list, I'm including the American teams. Earlier this spring, the ACC didn't rule out future intra-conference non-conference games, but it still seems to be an unlikely occurrence).

American:

East Carolina: With road games at Florida and BYU and a home game with Virginia Tech, the Pirates need one more at home.

SMU: One spot available and could travel. They have two home games (Baylor, North Texas) and one road game (at TCU).

Tulane: One vacancy, likely for a home game. They have one home date set with Duke, and road games at Georgia Tech and Army.

Tulsa: One opening. Golden Hurricane likely are looking for another home game with road games at New Mexico and Oklahoma and a home game with FAU.

UCF: Just adding to the list for the sake of completion, Knights need one game at home.

ACC:

Boston College: According to According to BC Interruption , the Eagles could have two openings. Army, a team thought to be playing BC, announced their 2015 schedule last week and they were not on it. New Mexico State, listed as "TBA" on FBSchedules.com, already has four non-conference dates scheduled. BC does have confirmed OOC games with Northern Illinois (Sept. 26) and a game against Notre Dame at Fenway Park (Nov. 21). They played seven home games this season, but they've had an even six home/six away split the past few years. It's possible they'd be in the market for a road game. UCF and BC do have recent history, playing in 2008 at BC and 2011 in Orlando.

Miami: The Hurricanes need one game, but likely one at home with road games scheduled at Cincinnati and FAU.

Big 12:

None

Big Ten:

None

Conference USA:

Middle Tennessee: The Blue Raiders have one vacancy, but with road dates already scheduled at Ball State and Illinois they're likely looking for another home game.

Louisiana Tech: Same situation as Middle Tennessee. They have one spot, but with two road games (at Mississippi State and Kansas State) they're probably looking for a team that will come to Ruston.

North Texas: The Mean Green have three road games on their non-conference schedule (SMU, Iowa, Tennessee) so it's a certainty they're in the market for a home game.

Rice: Same situation as Middle Tennessee and Louisiana Tech. One vacancy, but they've already got two road games scheduled (at Texas and Baylor).

Southern Miss: Same deal. One spot open, but already have two road games (at Texas State and Nebraska).

Independents:

None

MAC:

Bowling Green: Need one game, but already two road games scheduled (at Maryland and Purdue).

Central Michigan: Same situation as nearly everyone else. Need one game, but already have two road games (at Syracuse and Michigan State).

Western Michigan: Same deal. Need one game, but already have two road games (at Georgia Southern and Ohio State).

Mountain West:

Air Force: In need of one game, but have two road games already (at Michigan State and Navy).

New Mexico: This is a school that could potentially travel to begin a series. They have non-conference home dates with Tulsa and New Mexico State, and will play a road game at Arizona State. Unless they want a seventh home game, they could be looking to go on the road.

San Diego State: The Aztecs are in need of two games, but both would have to be at home. They already have road games scheduled at California and Penn State.

PAC-12:

None

SEC:

Kentucky: A few weeks ago, the Wildcats had three vacancies but that's since been whittled to one as they've recently scheduled home games with Louisiana-Lafayette and FBS newcomer Charlotte. That makes seven home games, including the annual game with Louisville that's slated to be in Lexington next year. Kentucky, a team that heavily recruits Florida, could potentially travel for their last remaining open spot.

Missouri: Another team that recently had multiple vacancies. Last week they came to an agreement with UConn who will visit Columbia in 2015. They currently have six scheduled home games and are likely looking for a seventh home games, based on recent trends. Missouri played seven home games in 2012 and 2013 and will play seven this year also. It's also unlikely they'd play UCF again any time soon, given the recently-completed home-and-home.

Alabama: The Crimson Tide are still in need of two games for 2015. They have a neutral site game with Wisconsin in Arlington, Tex., plus a home date with Louisiana-Monroe. Under Nick Saban, Alabama has played just two non-conference road games - at Duke in 2010 and Penn State in 2011. They'll schedule three guarantee games for Tuscaloosa and play a fourth team at a neutral site.

Mississippi State: Like every other SEC team, the Bulldogs strive to play at least seven home games. They do have one opening, but they're already scheduled to play at Southern Miss. Their final game likely goes to a guarantee opponent.

Sun Belt:

Texas State: With two road games (at Florida State and Houston) scheduled, the Bobcats are likely in the market for a sixth home game.

Louisiana-Lafayette: Same situation as Texas State. They have two road games (Kentucky and Akron) and need another home game.

Louisiana-Monroe: One or two vacancies. ULM has three road games scheduled - at Alabama, Georgia and Hawaii. Playing a game at Hawaii means ULM could schedule a 13th game if they so desired. They have played just five home games the past few seasons, so if they do look to schedule two more they could add one more road game. Typically they only travel as a guarantee opponent looking for a payday, and not a home-and-home.