List of UCF Knights football seasons

Acrisure Bounce House, the Knights' home field
UCF playing Texas at Acrisure Bounce House, then Bright House Networks Stadium, in 2007

The UCF Knights college football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), representing the University of Central Florida in the Big 12 Conference. Since the program's first season in 1979 under Don Jonas, the Knights have played more than 517 games, with over 290 victories. UCF has won six division titles (2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2017, 2018), six conference championships (2007, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018), and has made ten postseason appearances since joining FBS, including three BCS/NY6 bowl games.[1] The Knights also claim a National Championship for the 2017 season, as recognized by the Colley Matrix. The Knights' current head coach is Scott Frost. The Knights have played their home games at Acrisure Bounce House, located on the main campus of UCF in Orlando, Florida, since 2007.

UCF began as a Division III program, moving in succession to Division II, Division I-AA (FCS), and subsequently completed their ascension to Division I-A (FBS) in 1996. Initially a Division I-A Independent the Knights first moved into a "Group of Five" conference in 2002, and then into a "Power Five" conference in 2023.[2] In doing so, the Knights became the first NCAA football program to play at all four sanctioned levels. As a Division I–AA program, the Knights made the 1990 and 1993 playoffs.[3]

After George O'Leary took over the program, the Knights gained national prominence as members of C-USA and later the AAC. O'Leary guided UCF to their first division title (2005), first conference championship (2007), first bowl game (2005), first bowl victory (2010), first appearance/victory in a New Year's Six game (2014), first national rankings,[4][5] and numerous other milestones and superlatives.

The Knights' main rivals are the South Florida Bulls; other historic rivals include East Carolina and Marshall. UCF has played one Consensus All-American, Kevin Smith in 2007, and produced three Heisman Trophy candidates, Daunte Culpepper in 1998, Kevin Smith in 2007, and McKenzie Milton in 2017 and 2018. The program has also produced a long-line of NFL players.[6] Playing in fourteen Super Bowls and including four pro-bowlers, the list most notably includes Blake Bortles, Brandon Marshall, Bruce Miller, Daunte Culpepper, Matt Prater, Asante Samuel, and Josh Sitton.

Seasons

National Champions † Conference Champions * Division Champions ‡ Bowl game berth College Football Playoff game § Shared standing T Not applicable
Season Team Head coach Division Season results Championship and postseason results Final ranking
Conference Overall AP Coaches'
Finish
[note 1] 		Win(s) Loss(es) Tie(s)[note 2] Win(s) Loss(es) Tie(s)[note 2]
UCF Knights
NCAA Division III Independent (1979–1981)
1979 1979 Don Jonas 6[note 3] 2 0
1980 1980 4[note 4] 4 1
1981 1981 4 6 0
NCAA Division II Independent (1982–1989)
1982 1982 Sammy Weir 0 10 0
1983 1983 Lou Saban 4 6 0
1984 1984 Lou Saban[note 5]
Jerry Anderson 		2 9 0
1985 1985 Gene McDowell 4 7 0
1986 1986 6 5 0
1987 1987 9 4 0 L NCAA Division II semifinal
1988 1988 6 5 0
1989 1989 7 3 0
NCAA Division I-AA Independent (1990–1995)
1990 1990 Gene McDowell 10 4 0 L NCAA Division I-AA semifinal
1991 1991 6 5 0
1992 1992 6[note 6] 4 0
1993 1993 9 3 0 L NCAA Division I-AA first round
1994 1994 7 4 0
1995 1995 6 5 0
NCAA Division I-A Independent (1996–2001)
1996 1996 Gene McDowell 5 6
1997 1997 5 6
1998 1998 Mike Kruczek 9 2
1999 1999 4 7
2000 2000 7 4
2001 2001 6 5
Mid-American Conference (2002–2004)
2002 2002 Mike Kruczek East 2nd 6 2 7 5
2003 2003 Mike Kruczek[note 7]
Alan Gooch 		5th 2 6 3 9
2004 2004 George O'Leary 7th 0 8 0 11
Conference USA (2005–2012)
2005 2005 George O'Leary East 1st ‡ 7 1 8 5 L Hawaii Bowl
2006 2006 4th 3 5 4 8
2007 2007 1st* 7 1 10 4 L Liberty Bowl
2008 2008 T–4th 3 5 4 8
2009 2009 2nd 6 2 8 5 L St. Petersburg Bowl
2010 2010 1st* 7 1 11 3 W Liberty 21 20
2011 2011 5th 3 5 5 7
2012 2012 1st ‡ 7 1 10 4 W Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl
American Athletic Conference (2013–2022)
2013 2013 George O'Leary 1st* 8 0 12 1 W Fiesta Bowl 10 12
2014 2014 T–1st* 7 1 9 4 L St. Petersburg Bowl
2015 2015 George O'Leary[note 8]
Danny Barrett 		East 6th 0 8 0 12
2016 2016 Scott Frost 3rd 4 4 6 7 L Cure Bowl
2017 2017† 1st* 8 0 13 0 W Peach Bowl 6 7
2018 2018 Josh Heupel 1st* 8 0 12 1 L Fiesta Bowl 11 12
2019 2019 2nd 6 2 10 3 W Gasparilla Bowl 24 24
2020 2020 T–3rd 5 3 6 4 L Boca Raton Bowl
2021 2021 Gus Malzahn 3rd 5 3 9 4 W Gasparilla Bowl
2022 2022 T–2nd 6 2 9 5 L Military Bowl
Big 12 Conference (2023–present)
2023 2023 Gus Malzahn T–9th 3 6 6 7 L Gasparilla Bowl
2024 2024 T–14th 2 7 4 8
2025 2025 Scott Frost T–13th 2 7 5 7

Notes

  1. ^ When in a division, it shows their position within the division. Otherwise the overall position in the division-less conference is listed.
  2. ^ a b Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[7]
  3. ^ The official NCAA Statistics do not include the game against Fort Benning, resulting in a record of 5–2[8]
  4. ^ UCF's 1980 record is disputed. The Carson–Newman Eagles were forced to forfeit their opening day 30–21 victory[9] over the Knights due to an ineligible player.[10] The official NCAA Statistics (possibly by error) maintain UCF's 1980 full season record as 3–5–1,[11] However, the school[12][13] and local media[14] claim a record of 4–4–1, interpreting the Eagles forfeit as a Knights win.
  5. ^ After a 1–6 start to the season, Saban stepped away from the program and was replaced by assistant coach Jerry Anderson.
  6. ^ Does not include a 43–6 victory in an exhibition game against the Moscow Bears of the Russia national American football team
  7. ^ Head Coach Mike Kruczek was fired following a 3–7 start. Kruczek was replaced by assistant coach and former player Alan Gooch who finished out the season.
  8. ^ Following UCF's 59–10 defeat to Houston on homecoming, this dropped the Knights to an 0–8 record. As a result, O'Leary resigned as head coach. Quarterbacks coach Danny Barrett served as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

References

General:

  • Holic, Nathan, and the UCF Alumni Association. University of Central Florida: The Campus History Series (2009), ISBN 978-0-7385-6768-6
  • MacCambridge, Michael. ESPN College Football Encyclopedia: The Complete history of the Game (2005), ISBN 1-4013-3703-1

In-text:

  1. ^ "UCF Football History". University of Central Florida Athletics. 2009. Retrieved November 20, 2009.
  2. ^ Vannini, Chris (July 12, 2023). "Inside UCF's rise from D-III to Big 12 and what's next: 'This could be the premier place'". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  3. ^ "Division I–AA Football Comes to Orlando". University of Central Florida Athletic Association. Retrieved January 1, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  4. ^ "UCF ranked No. 23 in coaches poll and No. 25 in AP, vaulting into Top 25 for first time in school history". Orlando Sentinel. November 7, 2010. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  5. ^ "UCF ranked No. 25 in latest USA Today coaches poll". Orlando Sentinel. November 28, 2010. Archived from the original on December 2, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  6. ^ "UCF Knights Football Record by Year".
  7. ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 7, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2008.
  8. ^ "Final 1979 Cumulative Football Statistics Report". NCAA.org. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  9. ^ Carfield, Jim (September 14, 1980). "Carson-Newman pins 30–21 setback on UCF". Orlando Sentinel. p. 14. Retrieved December 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Carfield, Jim (October 1, 1980). "Dozen black players boycott UCF drills". Orlando Sentinel. p. 365. Retrieved December 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Final 1980 Cumulative Football Statistics Report". NCAA.org. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  12. ^ "UCF Record Book - 2024 UCF Football" (PDF). UCF Athletics. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  13. ^ Wilson, Justin (November 26, 2024). "UCF Hosts Utah on Senior Knight Friday". UCFKnights.com. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  14. ^ Carfield, Jim (December 23, 1980). "UCF to extend Jonas' pact for 1981 football season". Orlando Sentinel. p. 9. Retrieved December 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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