University of Central Florida: Knights
The UCF program dates to their first football tryout in March of 1979 led by former American and Canadian football player Don Jonas [Donald Walter Jonas] when the program was a part of the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision.
The UCF Knights finished their 2022 football season 9-5, advancing to the conference title and then losing in a blowout Military Bowl game against Duke 30-13, under the direction of Head Coach Gus Malzahn.
During Big 12 Media Days, Coach Malzahn opened by expressing his excitement for the opportunity for the UCF program to be a part of a Power 5 conference.
“First of all, we’re extremely excited to be here,” said Malzahn. “This is a huge moment for our program, to be a part of the Big 12. A lot of excitement.”
With the realignment, Malzahn also realigned his roster.
“We’ve returned six on both sides of the football,” Malzahn said. “We have our kicker and our punter back, and both of those guys were phenomenal last year. We brought in 18 transfers, and most of these guys weren’t just starters on their previous teams, but quite a few of them were impact players.”
Malzahn knows that this is a deep conference, understands the competition, and thinks that being the “new kid on the block” could be used in their favor going up against schools like 2021 Big 12 Champion Baylor and 2022 Fiesta Bowl champs TCU.
“Our first conference game is on the road at Kansas State, and that’s no treat,” said Malzahn. “Our first home conference game is Baylor. The last two champions, so that’s a huge challenge. But like I said, it’s a deep conference. When you look at your schedule, there’s no off weeks. You’ve got to bring you’re A-game every week. That’s really what stands out to me coming in as a new kid on the block.”