The UCF Knights (9-3; 7-1 C-USA) football squad secured the East Division Championship Crown Friday night without even having to play a game. With SMU’s win against ECU and Tulane’s win against Southern Miss, UCF was named the East Division Champion and granted the right to host the Conference USA Championship Game this Saturday against SMU (7-5; 6-2 C-USA). Despite an early sputter, the Knights also crushed Memphis (1-11; 0-8 C-USA) on Saturday and re-entered the Top 25, ranking #25 in the USA Today‘s Coaches’ Poll.
The winner of Saturday’s C-USA Championship Game will receive an invite to C-USA’s top bowl berth, the Liberty Bowl, played at 3:30 on 12/31 in Memphis, TN. The opponent for that bowl is a team from the SEC. Many analysts have projected UCF vs. UGA in that game. The C-USA Championship Game will begin at Noon at Bright House Networks Stadium and is being nationally-televised on ESPN. The game is expected to sell-out; but tickets can be purchased by calling the UCF Athletics Office @ (407) 823-1000. The tailgating party for the Colleges of Nursing and Health & Public Affairs will begin in the Softball Lot (E5) at 9:00am.
A study appearing today in the New England Journal of Medicine highlights research findings that the antiretroviral drug Truvada is highly effective at preventing HIV infection in men who have sex with men (MSM). Researchers studied the effect of Truvada in a sample of 2,500 MSM in San Francisco, CA and Lima, Peru. While infection rates declined an average of 44%; when participants took the drug precisely as prescribed, its efficacy rose to up to 90%! Adverse effects are low and included nausea, increased creatinine, and weight loss. The finding holds promise that perhaps pre-exposure prophylactic treatment could be the key to greatly reducing infection rates in the population at most risk. Of great concern, however is the cost. In the US, Truvada costs between $12,000-$14,000 annually. In addition, Gilead, the maker of the drug needs to pursue FDA approval for the pre-exposure indication, which could take months. 
Still not sure who to vote for on election day? Then use the Equality Florida Voter’s Guide to help cast your vote. One word of caution: Equality Florida has endorsed Democrat Kendrick Meek for US Senate. While Meek is an excellent candidate, strongly consider voting for Charlie Crist as the main objective in the Senate race needs to be to stop Marco Rubio at all cost. Rubio is vehemently anti-gay and is a product of the Tea Party movement. Although Crist stops short of supporting full marriage equality, his chances of besting Rubio are much better than Meek and he has improved dramatically on his stances on gay rights. Click below for Equality Florida’s Voter’s Guide.
