| Year: | 1986 |
| Team: | UCF Knights |
| Sport: | football |
| Conference: | Independent |
| Record: | 6–5 |
| Head Coach: | Gene McDowell |
| Hc Year: | 2nd |
| Off Coach: | Mike Kruczek |
| Oc Year: | 2nd |
| Def Coach: | Bruce Bennett |
| Dc Year: | 1st |
| Stadium: | Florida Citrus Bowl |
The 1986 UCF Knights football season was the eighth season for the team. It was Gene McDowell's second season as the head coach of the Knights. McDowell's 1986 team compiled a 6 - 5 overall record.[1]
The Knights competed as an NCAA Division II Independent. The team played their home games at the Citrus Bowl in Downtown Orlando. The Knights nearly earned their first-ever victory against a Division I-A team. On October 11, they fell 9-6 at Wichita State, on a miserable, soggy, afternoon after missing an extra point and two botched field goal attempts. It proved to be the Shockers' final football victory; less than two months after the game, Wichita State announced it was disbanding its program.