UCF Knights
The UCF Knights are the athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in unincorporated Orange County, Florida near Orlando. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a member of the Big 12 Conference. Since men's soccer is not sponsored by the Big 12, they play in the Sun Belt Conference.
The university has asked to be identified as UCF when being referenced as opposed to Central Florida, though they formerly asked to be identified as either. Television networks and other media outlets, most notably ESPN, were initially slow to adopt this policy, but had mostly adapted by 2017. The "Knights of Pegasus" – as the nickname was originally called – was a submission put forth by students, staff, and faculty in 1970 who wished to replace UCF's unpopular original mascot, the Citronaut, which was a mix between an orange and an astronaut. In 1993 through 2007, the teams were rebranded and known as the Golden Knights. The Knights were also chosen over the Vultures. In 1994, Knightro debuted as the Golden Knights' official athletic mascot. Since 2014, the Citronaut has made a limited return for some "throwback" games in football.
UCF sponsors 16 varsity sports: 6 for men and 10 for women. UCF also used to sponsor a men's wrestling team, but it was discontinued after the 1986 season.
The Knights 16 varsity teams have combined to win 89 conference championships and two national championships as of the end of the 2020–21 school year. Neither of the national championships were bestowed by the NCAA, making them one of just three power conference members to never win an NCAA national championship. One Golden Knights athlete, Aurieyall Scott, has won an individual NCAA championship. Scott won the 60 meter dash at the 2013 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship. The non-varsity UCF cheerleading team has captured three national titles at the College Cheerleading and Dance Team Nationals.
Athletic facilities on the campus include the 45,300-seat FBC Mortgage Stadium, the 10,000–seat Addition Financial Arena, 3,000–seat Venue, John Euliano Park, the UCF Soccer and Track Stadium, and the UCF Softball Complex.
UCF was invited to join the Big 12 Conference on September 10, 2021, and accepted the invitation later that day. UCF began conference play in the Big 12 for the 2023 season.
History
Conference affiliations
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from: 01/07/2023 till: 30/06/2030 color:Conference text:"Big 12" fontsize:8
file:FTU Knights logo.png|thumb|130px|FTU Knights logo, ca. 1978
The UCF varsity athletic program was a charter member of the Sunshine State Conference in 1975. The school moved up to Division I in 1984. In its first years in D-I, UCF was a member of the American South Conference, merging into the Sun Belt Conference in 1991. Women's sports in Division I played in the New South Women's Athletic Conference until 1990, when the American South began organizing women's sports. In 1992, UCF joined the Trans America Athletic Conference in all D-I sports except football, which remained independent.
In 1996, UCF was advanced to I-A in football, and initially remained independent in football until becoming a football-only member of the Mid-American Conference in 2001, the same year the TAAC became the Atlantic Sun Conference. UCF joined Conference USA in all sports in 2005. It was announced in 2011 that UCF would join the Big East, which became the American Athletic Conference in 2013 following conference realignment and is now known as the American conference. UCF started playing in the AAC in 2013.
In September 2021, UCF received and accepted a membership offer to the Big 12 Conference. They became members of the Big 12 on July 1, 2023.
Mascot
The university's first mascot was the Citronaut, which was designed by Norman Van Meter, the brother-in-law of FTU's then-president Charles N. Millican. The Citronaut made an official appearance on a university publication, the cover of the 1968–69 student handbook.The sports teams were originally known as the "Knights of the Pegasus" – UCF's first official mascot – beginning with their first intercollegiate competitions in 1970. The moniker was switched to "Golden Knights" in 1993 as a solution to poor merchandise sales. In 2007, UCF announced that they would be dropping “Golden,” and would be known as the “Knights.” The mascot of the athletic teams is Knightro, a black knight with golden armor.
Facilities
In 2007, UCF made major changes to its athletic program. A new "athletic village" on the north end of campus known as Knights Plaza was developed. It included new sports facilities such as the new UCF Arena connected to the existing Venue at UCF and a new 45,000-seat football stadium originally known as Bright House Networks Stadium, later as Spectrum Stadium and the stadium's nickname of Bounce House, and now as FBC Mortgage Stadium, a new softball complex, and the first Division I indoor football practice facility in the state. This made UCF the first school to ever open a new football stadium and basketball arena at the same time, for the 2007–08 season. The athletic village also includes the already existing Jay Bergman Field and UCF Soccer and Track Stadium. The area was built in a downtown style with four towers of student housing including approximately 1000 beds, retail and restaurant areas, and a new pedestrian mall connecting the front of the new arena to the student union, known as Memory Mall. To mark the start of the new era, the teams names were reverted to "Knights" from the "Golden Knights" on May 4, 2007. In addition, new logos and uniforms were unveiled for all of UCF's athletic programs.Sports sponsored
Basketball
Men's basketball
UCF played its first intercollegiate basketball game before the team even had a nickname. In the Division II era, under Torchy Clark, UCF found great success including a DII Final Four appearance.UCF has been a member of Division I since 1985, and has advanced to the NCAA tournament 5 times 4 under coach Kirk Speraw and once under current coach Johnny Dawkins. UCF competed in the Atlantic Sun Conference from 1992 until 2005 when all sports joined C-USA, and plays in Addition Financial Arena. UCF made their debut in the C-USA Championship Tournament in the 2006 season, falling to Houston in the second round and closing out the season with the program's first losing record since 2000–01. The Knights made a huge turnaround in the 2006–07 season, finishing 2nd in conference play to Memphis with an overall record of 22–9.
The UCF men's basketball team played its first exhibition game in the 9,400-seat UCF Arena, with an 86–78 win over the Saint Leo Lions, on November 3, 2007. Their first regular-season game in the venue was a 63–60 victory over the Nevada Wolf Pack on November 11. Their first home C-USA game was against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on January 11, 2008. The game was won by the Knights in triple overtime. On December 1, 2010, the Knights upset the #16 Florida Gators 57–54 at the new Amway Center in downtown Orlando, giving the Knights their first victory over a top 20 opponent as well as their first victory over the Gators. Following a 10–0 start to the 2010–11 season, the Knights were nationally ranked for the first time in program history. At the time, UCF was one of nine unbeaten teams, and one of only four schools to be ranked in the BCS standings and the AP men's basketball poll. In 2019, the Knights defeated the number 8 ranked Houston Cougars and ended the nations longest home winning streak at 33. With this win, they entered the AP poll for the first time since the 2010–2011 season; peaking at number 19 in the country. At the end of the season, they were selected for the NCAA Tournament as a number 9 seed. In the first round, they defeated 8 seed VCU with a score of 73–58. In the second round, they faced number 1 seed Duke. They came a layup away from pulling off the upset win with a score of 76–77. Despite the heartbreaking loss, the game is seen as one of the most important games in UCF athletics history.
Women's basketball
UCF first joined the AIAW for women's basketball in 1977–78. To conclude the 1979–80 season, the team won the Division-II Florida State Championship, before falling in their first game of the national tournament. They were promoted to AIAW Division I in its last year of existence, 1981–82, and made it to that year's District I tournament quarterfinals, before joining the NCAA in 1982–83.The women's basketball team have made the NCAA Division I tournament in 1996, 1999, 2009, 2011, 2019, 2021, and 2022. They won the TAAC/Atlantic Sun regular-season title in 1999, 2003 and 2005, before joining C-USA. In 2009, UCF's women's basketball team shocked the C-USA by going 11–5 in conference play after going 2–11 in non-conference games and 10–20 the previous year, and swept through the 2009 Conference USA women's basketball tournament, dominating Southern Miss in overtime to win the championship game, 65–54, and earn its third Division I tournament appearance. In 2022, the Knights won the AAC title; going 14–1 in the conference and 26–3 overall. This earned them a number 24 overall final season ranking in the AP and coaches poll, as well as an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament as a 7-seed. They defeated the 10-seed Florida Gators in the first round, and lost in the second round to 2-seed UConn by 5 points.