The UCF Knights are the athletic teams that represent the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. The Knights participate in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

's (NCAA) Division I ( FBS for football) as a member of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

. UCF was invited to join the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

on September 10, 2021, and accepted the invitation later that day. The American Athletic Conference announced on June 10, 2022 that UCF had been approved for an early exit of the conference following the 2022-23 season (albeit with an increased buyout cost), permitting them to enter the Big 12 Conference for the 2023-24 season. Since men's soccer is not sponsored by the Big 12, they will play in the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

beginning in 2023. 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 The Citronaut was the first mascot of Florida Technological University (FTU), which later became the University of Central Florida (UCF). The mascot appeared on the first student handbook in 1968–1969. After one year, students petitioned the uni ...

, which was a mix between an orange and an astronaut. The Knights were also chosen over "Vincent the Vulture," which was a popular unofficial mascot among students at the time. From 1993 through 2007, the teams were known as the Golden Knights. 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 the 15 varsity sports UCF sponsors, Knights teams have won a total of 89 conference championships and two national championships as of the end of the 2020–21 school year. The women's volleyball team won in the AIAW Small College Division in 1978 and the football team was selected as national champions by the

Colley Matrix The Colley Matrix is a computer-generated sports rating system designed by Dr. Wesley Colley. It is one of more than 40 polls, rankings, and formulas recognized by the NCAA in its list of College football national championships in NCAA Division I ...

in 2017. Neither of these titles came in NCAA sanctioned events as the NCAA does not award national championships in FBS Football and did not sponsor women's sports at all before 1982. One Golden Knights athlete,

Aurieyall Scott Aurieyall Scott (born May 18, 1992) is an American sprinter who specializes in the 60 and 100 meter dash (indoor) and 100, 200, and 400 meter dash (outdoor). High school career For her freshman and sophomore year Scott competed for Groves High ...

, has won an individual NCAA championship. Scott won the 60 meter dash at the 2013 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship. The UCF cheerleading team (which is officially considered a club team) has captured three national titles at the

College Cheerleading and Dance Team Nationals The Universal Cheerleaders Association Division I-A College Championships were first introduced in 1978 on CBS Sports. Top cheerleading teams from colleges across the U.S. and foreign countries perform routines consisting of gymnastics, partner stun ...

. Athletics facilities on the campus include the 44,206-seat

FBC Mortgage Stadium FBC Mortgage Stadium (formerly known as Bright House Networks Stadium and Spectrum Stadium, also known as the Bounce House) is an American football stadium located in Orlando, Florida, United States, on the main campus of the University of Central ...

, the 9,432–seat

Addition Financial Arena Addition Financial Arena (formerly known as CFE Arena and UCF Arena) is a sports and entertainment arena located in Orlando, Florida, United States, on the main campus of the University of Central Florida. It was constructed beginning in 2006 ...

, 3,000–seat

Venue Venue is the location at which an event takes place. It may refer to: Locations * Venue (law), the place a case is heard * Financial trading venue, a place or system where financial transactions can occur * Music venue, place used for a concer ...

John Euliano Park John Euliano Park, formerly Jay Bergman Field, is a baseball stadium located on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, USA. The stadium serves as the home of the UCF Knights baseball team. History John Eulian ...

, the

UCF Soccer and Track Stadium The UCF Soccer and Track Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, United States. The 2,000-seat stadium is home to the UCF Knights track and field, cross country and s ...

, and the

UCF Softball Complex The UCF Knights softball program represents the University of Central Florida in the sport of softball. The Knights compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the American Athletic Conference (The American). ...

Traditions and history

The UCF varsity athletic program was a charter member of the

Sunshine State Conference The Sunshine State Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. All of its member institutions are located in the state of Florida, which is popularly kn ...

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 The American South Conference was an NCAA Division I athletic conference that existed from 1987–88 to 1990–91. The charter members were Arkansas State University, Lamar University, Louisiana Tech University, the University of New Orleans, the ...

, merging into the

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 The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Divisio ...

(TAAC) in all D-I sports except football, which remained independent. In 1996, UCF was advanced to I-A (FBS) in football, and initially remained independent in football until becoming a football-only member of the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

in 2001, the same year the TAAC became the Atlantic Sun Conference (which rebranded itself as the ASUN Conference in 2016). UCF joined

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

(C-USA) in all sports in 2005, and the

(The American) in 2013. 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. The mascot of the athletic teams is

Knightro Knightro is the official mascot of the University of Central Florida, and its sports teams, the Knights.ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, have been slow to adopt this policy. In 2007, UCF made major changes to its athletic program. A new "athletic village" on the north end of campus known as

Knights Plaza Knights Plaza at University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as Knights Plaza, is an athletic village and shopping center on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, United States. The plaza consists of ho ...

was developed. It included new sports facilities such as the new UCF Arena (later CFE Arena and now

) 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 now as

, a new softball complex, and the only Division I indoor football practice facility in the state. This made UCF the first school to ever open a new stadium and arena at the same time, for the 2007–08 season.Convocation Center Update
''CFE Arena'' It also includes

Jay Bergman Field John Euliano Park, formerly Jay Bergman Field, is a baseball stadium located on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, USA. The stadium serves as the home of the UCF Knights baseball team. History John Eulian ...

and

. 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 Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

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.

Conference affiliations

ImageSize = width:850 height:auto barincrement:10 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 right:100 left:20 AlignBars = late DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1968 till:01/01/2031 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:01/01/1970 Colors = id:Conference value:black legend:Conference id:Conference2 value:yelloworange legend:Conference #Legend = columns:4 left:150 top:24 columnwidth:100 TextData = pos:(20,27) textcolor:black fontsize:M BarData = barset:PM PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:PM from: 01/07/1968 till: 30/06/1975 color:Conference text:"Independent" fontsize:8 from: 01/07/1975 till: 30/06/1984 color:Conference text:"Sunshine State" fontsize:8 from: 01/07/1984 till: 30/06/1990 color:Conference text:"Independent" fontsize:8 from: 01/07/1990 till: 30/06/1991 color:Conference text:"American South" fontsize:8 from: 01/07/1991 till: 30/06/1992 color:Conference text:"Sun Belt" fontsize:8 from: 01/07/1992 till: 30/06/2005 color:Conference text:"ASUN" fontsize:8 from: 01/07/2002 till: 30/06/2005 color:Conference2 text:"MAC (FB only)" fontsize:8 from: 01/07/2005 till: 30/06/2013 color:Conference text:"C-USA" fontsize:8 from: 01/07/2013 till: 30/06/2023 color:Conference text:"The American" fontsize:8 from: 01/07/2023 till: 30/06/2030 color:Conference text:"Big 12" fontsize:8

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 4 times (94, 96, 04, 05), all under coach

Kirk Speraw Kirk Crittendon Speraw (born August 21, 1956) is a former American basketball coach who was most recently an assistant basketball coach at the University of Iowa. Speraw previously served as the head coach for the men's basketball team at Universi ...

. UCF competed in the

Atlantic Sun Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Divisi ...

(formerly called the Trans America Athletic Conference and now the ASUN Conference) from 1992 until 2005 when all sports joined C-USA, and plays in

. 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 (14–15) since 2000–01. The Knights made a huge turnaround in the 2006–07 season, finishing 2nd in conference play to

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

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 (now Addition Financial Arena), with an 86–78 win over the

Saint Leo Lions The Saint Leo Lions are the athletic teams that represent Saint Leo University, located in St. Leo, Florida, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Lions have primarily co ...

, on November 3, 2007. Their first regular-season game in the venue was a 63–60 victory over the

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

on November 11. Their first home C-USA game was against the

Tulsa Golden Hurricane The Golden Hurricane are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tulsa. These teams are referred to as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (or variously as TU or Tulsa). Before adopting the name Golden Hurricane in 1922, the University of Tu ...

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 The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

57–54 at the new

Amway Center Amway Center is an indoor arena located in Downtown Orlando, Florida. The arena is home to the Orlando Magic of the NBA, the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, and the Orlando Predators of the National Arena League. Amway Center hosted the 2012 N ...

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.

Women's basketball

UCF first joined the

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

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 made the NCAA Division I tournament in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

and

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, and 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 The Conference USA women's basketball tournament is held annually following the end of the regular season of NCAA Division I women's basketball. The tournament has been played every year since the inception of Conference USA in 1996. The winner ...

, dominating Southern Miss in overtime to win the championship game, 65–54, and earn its third Division I tournament appearance.

Baseball

The baseball team is led by head coach, Terry Rooney who will entered his first season as head coach in 2009. Jay Bergman had been head coach since 1976 but was fired on May 1, 2008, after allegations arose of sexual harassment towards a male equipment coach. Bergman had a large amount of success in this position, leading UCF to Atlantic Sun Championships in 93, 95, 96, 97, 00, 01, 02, 04 and NCAA Regional Appearances in 89, 93, 95, 96, 97, 00, 01, 02, 04, and brought UCF to a national ranking of #8 in 2001. In honor of his long-term success with the Knights, on February 3, 2001, UCF opened and dedicated what is now

Football

UCF fielded an official varsity football team for the first time in 1979, under head coach

Don Jonas Donald Walter Jonas (born December 3, 1938) is a former American football player and coach. Jonas played in the American minor leagues (semi-pro) and the Canadian Football League. He was also the first head coach of the UCF Knights (1979–1981). ...

. Since then, the Knights have played in six bowl games, won six conference championships, produced 2 All-Americans, and two first-round draft picks. UCF has had some measure of success in football in its short NCAA history. It is the alma mater for NFL stars

Brandon Marshall Brandon Tyrone Marshall (born March 23, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCF Knights, and was drafted by ...

Daunte Culpepper Daunte Rachard Culpepper (born January 28, 1977) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at UCF and was selected ...

Asante Samuel Asante T. Samuel Sr. (born January 6, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Accra, Ghana and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He played college fo ...

Leger Douzable Leger Douzable Jr. (born May 31, 1986) is an American football defensive end who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at UCF. Douzable has also played fo ...

, and Bruce Miller among others. While UCF football can be traced back to its days as an

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...

team under Jonas, it quickly moved up to Division II in 1982, and

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

in 1990, finally matching the rest of its sports programs. In 1996, the program made its final ascension into

Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

, now known as the

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

(FBS) of the

(NCAA). UCF football plays as a member of The American, where it has been a member since the 2013 season. The Knights play their home games at

, the team's home field since 2007. The Knights' most prominent historical football rivals are conference foes

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

and

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, and former

rival

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

. UCF's current main rival is in-state conference foe

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

. For the beginning of the rivalry's existence, it was an inter-conference contest when South Florida was in the

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

and UCF in C-USA. Both schools are now members of the American Athletic Conference and play on Black Friday each year. Since beginning play in 1979, the Knights have won three conference championships and four conference division titles. UCF won the C-USA East Division in 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2012, winning the conference championship game in 2007 and 2010. The Knights were also champions of The American in 2013. Before ascending to the FBS, UCF was a leading program in

in the early 1990s. In 1990, UCF became the first school in history to qualify for the I-AA playoffs in its first season of eligibility. The Knights once again made the postseason in 1993, and were selected as the preseason No. 1 to start the 1994 season.

George O'Leary George Joseph O'Leary (born August 17, 1946) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets from 1994 to 2001 and the UCF Knights from 2004 to 2015 ...

became UCF's head football coach in 2004 and had great success. The 2005 team won the school's first division championship, and earned their first trip to a

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

, in the Knights first season in C-USA. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, the Knights won their second division championship, and earned their first conference championship. During the

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

campaign, UCF earned its first victory over a ranked opponent and third bowl appearance under O'Leary's watch. In

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

earned their first top 25 ranking, second conference championship, and winning their first

. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, UCF went undefeated in conference play to win The American's conference championship in its inaugural season, earning the conference's

automatic berth Automatic may refer to: Music Bands * Automatic (band), Australian rock band * Automatic (American band), American rock band * The Automatic, a Welsh alternative rock band Albums * ''Automatic'' (Jack Bruce album), a 1983 electronic roc ...

to a BCS game. The fifteenth-ranked Knights upset the sixth-ranked

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only two private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior to j ...

52–42 in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl to secure the program's first win a major bowl game, and pull off one of the biggest upsets of the BCS era. UCF finished the 2013 campaign by earning the program's first top-ten ranking, and with quarterback

Blake Bortles Robby Blake Bortles (born April 28, 1992) is a former American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on ...

being selected third overall by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

in the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. Scott Frost became the head coach in 2016 as O'Leary effectively resigned from the program midway through the season in 2015. UCF defeated #7

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

34–27 in the 2018 Peach Bowl on January 1, 2018, to secure the school's second major bowl victory. Citing the only undefeated season in the FBS, UCF administrators claimed a national championship football season on January 7 (the day before the College Football Playoff National Championship Game). The

, an NCAA recognized selector, selected UCF as the top team in the country on January 9. It was the only selector to do so, as all other recognized selectors chose the winner of the

College Football Playoff National Championship The College Football Playoff National Championship is a post-season college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), which began play in the 2014 college football season. ...

, the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

. The NCAA record book places UCF under the "Final National Poll Leaders" section, but since the beginning of the BCS era in 1998 has reserved the term "National Champions" for winners of the BCS, College Football Playoff, AP Poll, or Coaches Poll. UCF is the only team which actively claims a national championship that was not awarded by one of these polls since the beginning of the BCS era.

Golf

The men's golf team was formed in 1979, and has appeared in NCAA Regionals 12 times, and have played in for the NCAA Championship four times. The last time the squad reached the championship was in 2009. The 2010 men's golf team were C-USA champions. The women's golf team was founded in 1982, and has made 9 NCAA Regional appearances, and has played for two NCAA Championship in 1996 and 2018. Bryce Wallor is the head coach for the men's golf team, and Courtney Trimble is the head coach for the women's team. The Knights men's golf team plays its home matches at the

Rio Pinar Country Club The Rio Pinar Golf & Country Club is a semi-private Golf club and Country Club located in Rio Pinar, Florida, a suburban subdivision of Orlando. History Established in 1957, the golf course was the original site of the Florida Citrus Open (now ...

. The Knights women's golf team plays its home matches at the RedTail Golf Course. The Knight's golf teams practice at the UCF Golf Practice Facility, located near the UCF campus at the Twin Rivers Golf Club in

Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...

. Numerous former Knight golfers have represented the UCF on the

PGA PGA is an acronym or initialism that may stand for: Aviation * IATA code for Page Municipal Airport, Coconino County, Arizona * ICAO designator for Portugália, regional airline based in Lisbon, Portugal * Abbreviation for Prince George Airport ...

and

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

s, including

Robert Damron Robert Douglas Damron (born October 27, 1972) is an American professional golfer, who has played on the PGA Tour. He is a studio analyst for the Golf Channel. Damron was born in Pikeville, Kentucky and raised there and later in Orlando, Florida ...

and

Cliff Kresge Clifford Terry Kresge (born October 3, 1968) is an American professional golfer. He has played on the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour since 1997. Kresge was born in Lakewood Township, New Jersey. His parents moved to central Florida in 1972 and lived ...

Women's rowing

The women's rowing team was formed in 1995. They have won 5 consecutive American Athletic Conference (AAC) Rowing championships, and have appeared in 6 NCAA Championships. The team matched their highest placement (18th overall) in their most recent 2019 appearance. This included their highest ever boat placement with the Varsity 4 boat coming in 14th. The team sit with UCONN Women's Basketball as the only sports in the AAC to win 5 consecutive conference championships. The 2020 season begun briefly with a sweep at the metro cup regatta, but was ended early due to COVID-19. The Coaching team consists of Head Coach Becky Cramer and includes Assistant Coaches Rachel Klunder (Director of Operations), Mari Sundbo, and Montia Rice.

Soccer

UCF has produced a number of soccer stars. Most notably,

Michelle Akers Michelle Anne Akers (formerly Akers-Stahl; born February 1, 1966) is an American former soccer player who starred in the 1991 and 1999 Women's World Cup and 1996 Olympics victories by the United States. At the 1991 World Cup, she won the Golde ...

and

Kim Wyant Kimberly Wyant (born February 11, 1964) is an American soccer coach and retired player. She is the head coach of the New York University men's soccer team, currently, one of only two women to lead a men's NCAA National Collegiate Athletic Associ ...

. Akers and Wyant were founding players on the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's Association football, soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four FIFA Women's World Cup, Wom ...

from 1985 to 2000. Akers helped them win the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and

, and the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. Her career was so distinguished that

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

named her among only two female players (along with teammate

Mia Hamm Mariel Margaret Hamm-Garciaparra (; born March 17, 1972) is an American retired professional soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Hailed as a soccer icon, she played as a forward for the U ...

) on the

FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list of Brazilian footballer Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, England, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the fo ...

list of the greatest living soccer players in 2004. The women's program made the final of the first official women's intercollegiate soccer championship ever held in 1981, as well as the first

NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I women's national ...

in 1982, losing the final in each year by the identical score of 1–0 to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. The men's program has developed midfielder Eric Vasquez, who made his professional soccer debut with the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

Major League Soccer. Vasquez later played for

Miami FC The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 se ...

in the United Soccer Leagues' First Division and the

Orlando Sharks The Orlando Sharks were a professional American indoor soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, United States. Founded in 2007, by Buena Vista Corporation the Chairman Mr. Sham Maharaj acquired the franchise early 2006. the first game was played ...

of the Major Indoor Soccer League before retiring due to injury. As well, former Knights Goalkeeper Ryan McIntosh initially signed a development deal with

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

of MLS. After a year with the D.C. United Reserve team, McIntosh signed with the

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

of USL Division One, where he led the team to the league final. The Silverbacks ended up losing to the Seattle Sounders. Both players were a part of the 2004

Central Florida Kraze Orlando City U-23 was an American soccer team based in Lake Mary, Florida, United States. Founded in 1998, the team played in the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Southeast Division of the ...

amateur soccer team that won the Premier Development League's championship by defeating the Boulder Rapids Resevers, 1–0 at the UCF soccer stadium. Former UCF goalkeeper Sean Johnson joined the Chicago Fire of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

in 2010. He made his pro debut on August 1 and defeated the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

. He was a member of the

United States U-20 men's national soccer team The United States U-20 men's national soccer team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation. The highest level of competition in which the team competes is the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which is held every two years. The United States' b ...

which qualified for the

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confedera ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. On the women's team, Aline Reis, an All-American in her freshman year in 2008, was selected to the

Brazil women's national football team The Brazil women's national football team (Portuguese: ''Seleção Brasileira Feminina de futebol'') represents Brazil in international women's football and is run by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). It has participated in eight ed ...

for the first time in 2009, playing in a friendly against a local Brazilian team in July. Former women's goalkeeper Lynzee Lee played for the

Buffalo Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American soccer club based in Elma, New York that competed in the United Women's Soccer league. They have won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-League in 2010, Women's Profess ...

of the W-League. In 2010, both the men's and women's soccer teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Softball

The Knights softball program was founded in 2002, and the team officially started competing in the Atlantic Sun Conference in that same year under head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie. Since the program began, the Knights have won two conference tournament champions, and have appeared in the NCAA tournament three times. Renee Luers-Gillispie, who is in her tenth year with the team, has been the programs only head coach. Through the conclusion of the 2010 season, Gillispie has led the Knights to a record of 341–233–1 during her tenure, and she has an overall win–loss record of 593–437–3 during her seventeen seasons as a head coach. The Knights softball team plays its home games at the

Tennis

The men's tennis team was formed in 1970. They reached the NCAA Division II Championship consecutively from 1974 to 1978, including a third-place finish in 1977. They won the A-Sun Championship three times from 2003 to 2005 under Bobby Cashman. The current men's coach is

John Roddick John Roddick (born July 4, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player and the current director of tennis and head men's tennis coach at the University of Central Florida. Early life Roddick was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of B ...

, brother and coach for former tennis pro

Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open ...

. The women's tennis team was formed in 1972. They have had 3 NCAA Division 1 Tournament appearances.

Track and field

The Knights women's

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

team has won ten total conference championships, eight in their nine years in the Atlantic Sun Conference, and won the 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 C-USA outdoor title, and the 2011 C-USA indoor title. In 2011, the Knights were nationally ranked for the first time in program history, while at the same time ranking as the top team in the state, rising as high as No. 8 in the polls. The head coach for the track and field program is Caryl Smith Gilbert, and the assistant coaches are Jeff Chakouian, Paul Brown and LaTonya Loche. Gilbert has coached four

All-Americans The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

during her tenure at UCF, including two-time All-American Jackie Coward. The Knights track and field teams hold their outdoor home meets at the

, which is part of Knights Plaza.

National championships

Two Knights teams have won national championships, though neither was bestowed by the NCAA. The 1978 women's volleyball team captured UCF's first national team championship, three years before the NCAA began governing women's sports. The team won the AIAW Small College Division championship as Florida Technological University within days of university leadership's vote to change the school's name. In 2017 the UCF Knights football team went undefeated and was selected by Dr. Wesley Colley's math system as its top team. His Colley Matrix is one of more than 40 polls, rankings, and formulas recognized by the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

in its list of

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

's "national poll leaders" chosen by major selectors."National champions: UCF Knights finish season ranked No. 1 in Colley Matrix"
''Orlando Sentinel''. Retrieved 2018-09-01. Its selections since 1992 are recognized by the NCAA. The extent of NCAA recognition of all major selectors is in the form of acknowledgment in the annual ''NCAA Football Guide'' of the unofficial national champions. However, UCF was not selected to play in the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

in 2017; all major selectors except for Colley Matrix chose Alabama as the 2017 national champion. Two Knights athletes have won individual national titles as well, one of which came in an NCAA-sanctioned event. The first was when Aurieyall Scott won the 60-meter dash at the 2013 NCAA Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship. The other title came when Trey Hilderbrand won the Men's Singles title in the 2020

ITA Ita or ITA may refer to : Places and jurisdictions * ITA, ISO 3166-1 country code for Italy * Ita (Africa), an ancient city and former bishopric in Roman Mauretania, presently a Latin Catholic titular see * Itá, Paraguay People * Ita (prin ...

Fall Indoor National Championship.

NCAA championships

* Individual (1) **

– 2013 NCAA Division I Women's Indoor Track and Field: 60-meter dash

Non-NCAA championships

* Team (2) ** Men (1) *** Football (FBS): 2017 (non-consensus champion,

) ** Women (1) *** Volleyball (AIAW Small College Division): 1978 * Individual (1) ** Trey Hilderbrand – 2020 ITA Indoor National Fall Championship: Men's Singles

Former Sports

Wrestling

From 1970–1986, UCF sponsored a men's wrestling program. The team qualified for the NCAA Division II championship in 1979 and 1984, finishing in 26th and 29th respectively; and the Division I championship in 1986, finishing 71st. The team was discontinued after 1986 due to cost.

Club sports

The University of Central Florida through the Recreation and Wellness Center and the

student government A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

also fields a number of club sports of varying degrees of competitiveness, though most compete only with other teams from the southeastern part of the country. These sports are funded by the university's

student government association A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

. The club sports include bass fishing,

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

jiu-jitsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

kiteboarding Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

paintball Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy ai ...

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

team handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

ultimate frisbee Ultimate, originally known as ultimate Frisbee, is a non-contact team sport played with a frisbee flung by hand. Ultimate was developed in 1968 by AJ Gator in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although ultimate resembles many traditional sports in its ath ...

, men's volleyball,

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffic ...

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...

, and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

Ice hockey

UCF's ice hockey team was founded in 1997 and competes in the

Southern Collegiate Hockey Conference The Southern Collegiate Hockey Conference is a collegiate hockey conference within Division II of the College Hockey Federation. All teams within the conference come from universities based in the state of Florida. History The SCHC began play in ...

in Division II of the

American Collegiate Hockey Association The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is a college ice hockey association. The ACHA's purpose is to be an organization of collegiate affiliated non-varsity programs, which provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes qualit ...

. The team plays its home games at the

RDV Sportsplex Built in 1998, the Orlando Sportsplex (formerly the RDV Sportsplex) is a multi-purpose sports and recreation facility that includes the Genesis Health Club, Genesis Ice Den, and nearly 100,000 square feet of Class A office/medical-use space occupi ...

Maitland, Florida Maitland is a suburban city in Orange County, Florida, United States, part of the Greater Orlando area. The population was 19,543 at the 2020 census. The area's history is exhibited at the Maitland Historical Museum; the city also hosts the Mai ...

. Since becoming head coach in 1999, Sean Weaver led the Knights to eight consecutive national tournament appearances, and placed 3rd in the 2007–08 and 2010–11 seasons.

Lacrosse

UCF's men's lacrosse teams compete in the

SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference The SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference (SELC) is a lacrosse-only athletic conference affiliated with the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The SELC incorporates teams in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and is divid ...

of the

Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association The Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) is a national organization of non-NCAA men's college lacrosse programs. The MCLA oversees game play and conducts national championships for over 200 teams in ten conferences throughout the United S ...

at the Division I level. The team was founded in 1997 and plays at the university's intramural fields. It is currently coached by Austin Ricci.

Rugby

Founded in 1988, UCF's Rugby Club plays in Division I of

college rugby College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States of America. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the ...

in the South Independent Conference against local rivals such as

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

and South Florida. The Knights are led by Head Coach Jason Granich but has recently been changed to Raoul Besse. The Knights have enjoyed a lot of success over the last couple of years thanks to hard work, coaching, and some of the best conditioning in the league. They are back-to-back national champions in D1-AA and have won a handful of Rugby Sevens tournaments. The trajectory of the 2015 season is looking positive with the Knights qualifying for the National Sevens Championship, ranked number one in the SIRC South Division, and ranked 7th in the entire nation. The Knights have had one of the better college rugby programs in Florida in recent years. In Fall 2011, UCF reached the finals of the Collegiate Rugby Florida Cup. The Knights finished the 2011–12 season ranked 17th with a record of 12–5, including splitting the season series against No. 6 ranked FSU. In spring 2013, the Knights won the DI-AA national championship. They defeated

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

31–17 in the round of 16, defeated Clemson 24–20 in the quarterfinals, and defeated Dartmouth 45–38 in the semifinals. UCF won the national championship by defeating

Lindenwood Lindenwood may refer to a place in the United States: *Lindenwood, Illinois *Lindenwood, Queens, New York *Lindenwood Cemetery, Fort Wayne, Indiana In education: * Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri * Lindenwood University – Bellevil ...

in the final 27–25, with team captain Gerhard Veit also scoring two tries. UCF repeated in 2014 as D1-AA national champion. They beat South Carolina in the quarterfinals (44-28) and San Diego in the semifinals(43-5). UCF defeated

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

in the final behind the efforts of MVP Scott Watters. The final score was an impressive 64–13. UCF has also had success in rugby sevens. UCF rugby won the first tournament in Estero in the Fall 2012 Florida Sevens Championship with a 4–0 record, including a 24–5 win over FSU in the final. The Knights went undefeated and beat UNF 36–15 in the final to win the 2012 Florida Cup. The Knights continued this in the 2015 tournament. The Knights (who were the lowest seed) dominated the top ranked team, Middle Tennessee with the final score 31–7. The Knights would go on to win all there matches, including the championship game against Georgia Tech edging them out 19–12.

War on I-4 rivalry

UCF's main rival is the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine *Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

, who are located 98 miles southwest in

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

. The first meeting between the two schools was a baseball game in 1971, where the South Florida Golden Brahmans beat the Florida Tech Knights of the Pegasus 5–1. The close geographic proximity and the schools being founded around the same time (South Florida in 1956 and Central Florida in 1963) made the schools naturally become rivals. The two schools became conference foes for the first time in 2013, when UCF joined the American Athletic Conference. The rivalry gets its name from

Interstate 4 Interstate 4 (I-4) is an Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Florida, maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Spanning along a generally southwest–northeast axis, I-4 is entirely concurrent wi ...

, which runs through both Tampa and Orlando. The rivalry was officially recognized by both schools on September 21, 2016, when it was announced that a rivalry series between all 14 sports that both schools sponsor would begin (USF is the only one of the two schools to offer men's cross country, women's sailing, and men's track & field while UCF is the only one of the two schools to offer women's rowing). Each sport is worth six total points, and sports where the teams meet head to head multiple times in the regular season will have the six points divided by the number of games played, meaning the point system typically grants: * 2 points to the winner of each regular season baseball game (3 games per year) * 3 points to the winner of each regular season men's basketball game (2 games per year) * 3 points to the winner of each regular season women's basketball game (2 games per year) * 6 points to the higher finisher at the American Athletic Conference Women's Cross Country Championship * 6 points to the winner of the annual football game * 6 points to the higher finisher at the American Athletic Conference Men's Golf Championship * 6 points to the higher finisher at the American Athletic Conference Women's Golf Championship * 6 points to the winner of the annual regular season men's soccer match (3 points awarded to each side in the event of a draw) * 6 points to the winner of the annual regular season women's soccer match (3 points awarded to each side in the event of a draw) * 2 points to the winner of each regular season softball game (3 games per year) * 6 points to the winner of the annual regular season men's tennis match. * 6 points to the winner of the annual regular season women's tennis match. * 3 points to the higher finisher at the American Athletic Conference Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship * 3 points to the higher finisher at the American Athletic Conference Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championship * 3 points to the winner of each regular season volleyball match (2 matches per year) * In the event of a tie in the overall competition, the athletic program that scores higher in the annual NCAA Graduation Success Rate will be awarded 1 extra point and crowned as the champion for that season. In the unlikely event that this is also tied, the series ends as a tie for that season and the previous winner retains the trophy. Only regular season matches are counted toward War on I-4 point totals for the 10 sports in which the teams compete head to head, meaning if the teams meet in a conference or NCAA tournament that game doesn't count for War on I-4 competition purposes. The winner each year will take possession of a large trophy shaped like an

Interstate The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

road sign, which will be displayed on their campus for the following year. One side of the trophy reads "Tampa" and features the USF logo while the other reads "Orlando" and features the UCF logo. The winner of the annual Thanksgiving weekend football clash receives a similarly shaped "War On I-4" trophy. As of 2020, USF leads UCF in the all-time series for football (6–5), men's basketball (23–16), women's basketball (28–13), baseball (75–69), softball (18–12), men's soccer (26–7–4), men's tennis (34–8), women's tennis (19–7) and volleyball (49–39). UCF only leads in women's soccer (11–4–4), but UCF has won all three overall War on I-4 titles since 2016, and led USF in the 2019–2020 edition of the rivalries, but the title was not awarded due to spring sports being canceled by the NCAA because of COVID-19.

Spirit programs

Cheerleading

The UCF cheerleading squad has captured three national titles at the D1 College Cheerleading and Dance Team Nationals, in 2003, 2007 and 2020. UCF cheerleading has received a spot in the top three in the country the last six seasons in the national championship, and has earned a top-10 finish 17 times in the last 19 years. In 2008, the WE Original weekly series Cheerleader U followed the UCF cheerleaders through an entire season. In 2013, the 2003 UCF Cheerleading Team, who won the UCA College Cheerleading Division IA national championship in 2003, was the first team inducted into the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame.

Marching Knights and KnightMoves

The Marching Knights were formed after the start of the football program in 1979, and is the largest and most visible student organization at the university. They are known for their high energy performances, unique and contemporary drill designs, and musical selections ranging from jazz, to pop, to classical. Members experience the thrill of performing for tens of thousands of fans alongside over 300 other outstanding performers at each home UCF football game and select away games, as well as any bowl games. The university's coordinated dance team, KnightMoves, is considered to be one of the nation's top college programs, and features 12-18 girls each year. The team performs year round at school and athletic events, such as

Spirit Splash The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Flori ...

, pep rally's, and football and basketball games. KnightMoves has finished in the top-10 at the College Cheerleading and Dance Team Nationals for the past two-years.

Cheers

"Black and gold" is a cheer that is very popular at home games, with one part of the student section yelling "Black!", and the other part of the section answering back with their loudest "Gold!" This can go back and forth for several minutes, with both sides competing to be the louder. Another popular cheer at games occurs during the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

when students loudly exclaim "Knight" during the line, "Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there." The University of Central Florida Fight Song is titled 'Charge On'. In 2019, the UCF Cheerleading Team became national champions in the UCA Division 1A Gameday division.

Athletic facilities

Since 2000, the UCF has invested significant capital and effort in the construction, expansion and improvements of its major sports programs and their facilities. In 2007, UCF opened the new 45,000–seat

, and the new 10,000 seat

. In 2011, the university renovated the

, increasing capacity to over 2,000 and adding amenities such as clubhouses and restrooms. In 2011, UCF completed a major renovation of

, expanding it to a total capacity at 4,180. File:Texas at UCF wide view from endzone.jpg,

File:Knights Plaza Wide.jpg,

File:JayBergmanField.jpg,

File:UCFTrackSoccerComplex.jpg,

Notable alumni

As a

competitor Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

in college

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

, UCF has many notable student athletes, coaches and staff members, such as

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

players

, A. J. Bouye,

Gabe Davis Gabriel Davis (born April 1, 1999) is an American football wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at UCF and was drafted by the Bills in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Ea ...

, Richie Grant,

Latavius Murray Latavius Rashard Murray (born January 18, 1990) is an American football running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at UCF Knights football, UCF and was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in ...

Matt Prater Matthew Phillip Prater (born August 10, 1984) is an American football placekicker for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Regarded as one of the best long distance kickers in NFL history, he held the NFL record for lon ...

Josh Sitton Josh James Sitton ( ; born June 16, 1986) is a former American football guard. He played college football at the University of Central Florida and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He made four P ...

, and twin brothers Shaquem and

Shaquill Griffin Shaquill "Shaq" Griffin (born July 20, 1995) is an American football cornerback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He is the twin brother of former linebacker Shaquem Griffin, and both brothers played college f ...

; former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

guard Jermaine Taylor and current NBA center

Tacko Fall Elhadji Tacko Sereigne Diop Fall (born 10 December 1995) is a Senegalese professional basketball player for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Fall was born and raised in Dakar, Senegal. He moved to the Uni ...

;

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

driver

Aric Almirola Aric Michael Almirola (born March 14, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 10 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. A graduate of Hillsborough High School in T ...

; and soccer stars

and Sean Johnson. Currently, more than 50 UCF alumni compete in professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...