UCF Knights - History and Overview

History and Overview

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 (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 in 2001, the same year the TAAC became the Atlantic Sun Conference. UCF joined Conference USA in all sports in 2005.

The sports teams were originally known as the "Knights of the Pegasus" since their first intercollegiate competitions in 1970. They switched to "Golden Knights" in 1993 as a solution to poor merchandise sales. The mascot of the athletic teams is Knightro, a black knight with gold armor. The university has asked to be identified as UCF when being referenced as opposed to Central Florida. Television networks and other media outlets, most notably ESPN, 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 was developed. It included new sports facilities such as a new arena connected to the existing CFE Arena and a new 45,000 seat football stadium known as the Bright House Networks Stadium, 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. It also includes 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. To mark the start of the new era, the teams were renamed from the "Golden Knights" on May 4, 2007 to the Knights and new logos and football helmets were unveiled.

On April 26, 2006, UCF hired Keith R. Tribble, the Chief Executive Officer of the Orange Bowl Committee, to replace departed Athletic Director Steve Orsini, who took the same job at the Southern Methodist University, a C-USA rival. Before leading the Orange Bowl Committee, Tribble had been an associate AD at the University of Florida and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.