But you got screwed because you don't have a conference championship game. Your conference deserves to be represented in the inaugural College Football Playoff. TCU is a better football team than Ohio State because they only lost by three to Baylor, not by double digits at home to a Virginia Tech team that was OMG and LOL all season. UCF finished the 2021 regular season with an 8-4 record - the best among Florida schools - and will play Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl Dec. The Knights lay claim to the 2017 national championship after defeating Auburn in the Peach Bowl, although they were not invited to the College Football Playoff that season despite their 12-0 record going into the bowl game. They have been with the American Athletic Conference since 2013. Since beginning Division I-A play in 1996, UCF has been an independent, part of the Mid-America Conference and Conference USA. “I don’t know why they don’t look to Orlando and West Orange County, but I don’t see that changing, unfortunately.” “When you look at their roster, the bulk of their guys come from Oviedo or Hagerty, primarily,” Hopper said. UCF hasn’t placed much emphasis on recruiting in Orlando and especially West Orange County, he said. Hopper also said he doesn’t see things changing much in recruiting. “The SEC works, because it’s just the Southeast teams, but now, you add Missouri and eventually Oklahoma and Texas, none of which (is) located in that area.” “You don’t have that workday bickering in the office or the atmosphere it used to have,” Hopper said. Now, it features teams such as West Virginia, which are farther east than the primary target region. Before Nebraska left in 2011 for the Big 10, the Big 12 comprised primarily schools in the Midwest from the aforementioned Cornhuskers down to Texas. As a self-described massive college football fan, he said he prefers conferences to be more regional. Legacy High School coach Trent Hopper offered a different take. “They usually have a shot at the national title and have a good fanbase here, as well, but now, they’re up against some good competition year in and year out.” “Kids are still talking Florida State and Florida, but this does add UCF into the conversation,” Olson said. Windermere head coach Eric Olson agreed the move elevates UCF into the conversation for area athletes, but it still has a long way to go in being one of the first to emerge. The opportunity to start in the Big 12 right off the bat could appeal to players in his situation. Some CFCA players such as current eighth-grader Noah Maddox would be seniors the year before the Knights move to the Big 12. We have a lot of great talent here, so I hope it encourages some of these guys to stay home and play for UCF.” “They have not always tapped into Orlando, but Coach (Gus) Malzahn is trying to do that. “It opens up more opportunities for the kids here in the area,” he said. Rather than going to Tallahassee, Gainesville, Miami or anywhere else in the country, could the change convince the area’s top talent to stay in Central Florida?Ĭentral Florida Christian Academy head coach Jeremy Campbell believes it will. The move takes effect at the start of the 2025 season, during which Oklahoma and Texas officially will begin play in the Southeastern Conference.Īnd the change could have an impact on West Orange and Southwest Orange. This puts UCF in one of the “Power 5” conferences for the first time in its history. The University of Central Florida in September announced it would be moving into college football’s upper echelon by joining the Big 12 conference along with Brigham Young University, current College Football Playoff semifinalist University of Cincinnati and the University of Houston.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |