UCF has been making noise all season long. The Knights have won a nation-long 22 games and claimed a national championship after the 2017 undefeated season. Their fans have clamored for respect and in the national spotlight as the team struggled to crack the top 10 and stay in the College Football Playoff picture.
The Knights are still fighting for their piece of the pie in the college football world. But they are about to show the college football world they are ready to hang with the big boys. At least, off the field.
ESPN's college football preview show College Gameday is taking its road show to Memory Mall on UCF's campus ahead of No. 12 UCF's game against Cincinnati. The show will broadcast starting at 9 a.m. until noon, with all the pomp and circumstance the show is accustomed to -- from fans crowding behind hosts Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso with their signs to Corso's famed headgear pick at the end of the show.
The Knights' game against the Bearcats itself will be a big event for the Knights. The American Conference and ESPN slated the game to air at 8 p.m. on ABC. It will mark one of the first times UCF has played a night game on a broadcast network.
College Gameday too will act as something of an infomercial for the school. The cameras will be trained not only on the students but througout campus and in Orlando. It all ends with the monumental football game where the Knights can clinch not only their 23rd straight win but also a trip to the American Conference Championship Game in December.
UCF has had something of a fraught history with Gameday. Especially since the team rose to prominence last year and made their claim for a national title.
A group of UCF fans and alumni planned to travel north for Gameday's appearance in Jacksonville for Florida's game against Georgia. But the group withdrew those plans after receiving several threats from fans on social media, citing security concerns. UCF fans still showed up and made their presence known.
The show has talked plenty about UCF's chances of making the College Football Playoff and the vociferousness of UCF fans defending their team. Kirk Herbstreit only a few weeks ago criticized the team's strength of schedule and claimed other non-power conference teams were better than UCF. The Knights have seemingly outlasted them all after Fresno State's loss this week. UCF is in position to make a second straight New Years Six bowl game after last year's win over Auburn in the Peach Bowl.
