List of UCF Knights bowl games explained

The UCF Knights football team competes as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), representing The University of Central Florida in the Big 12 Conference. Since the establishment of the football program in 1979, the Knights have played in thirteen bowl games. UCF has appeared in thirteen different bowl games, with multiple appearances in the St. Petersburg (3), Liberty Bowl (2), Gasparilla Bowl (2), and the Fiesta Bowl (2). The Knights also played in the Hawai'i Bowl, the Cure Bowl, and the Peach Bowl which was a part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). With their most recent win in the 2021 Gasparilla Bowl, UCF has an overall bowl record of 6–9 . They are 2-1 in BCS bowl games.

UCF's first bowl game came during the 2005 season when, under the leadership of second year head coach George O'Leary, the team underwent the fourth-best turnaround in NCAA history in his second year with the team.^[1] Before O'Leary, UCF had not made a postseason appearance since joining the FBS. As an FCS program, the Knights made the 1990 and 1993 playoffs, and were picked as the preseason No. 1 team to start the 1994 season.^[2] Since 2004, the Knights have made 15 postseason appearances in the years 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Key

General

	BCS Bowl Game
	Bowl game record attendance

Results

W	Win
L	Loss

Bowl games

! scope="col"

Bowl	Score	Date	Season	Opponent	Stadium	Location	Attendance	Head coach
1	Hawaii Bowl	OT		2005	Nevada Wolf Pack	Aloha Stadium	Honolulu	26,254
2	Liberty Bowl			2007	Mississippi State Bulldogs	Liberty Bowl	Memphis	63,816
3	St. Petersburg Bowl			2009	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	Tropicana Field	St. Petersburg	28,793
4	Liberty Bowl		December 31, 2010	2010	Georgia Bulldogs	Liberty Bowl	Memphis	51,231
5	Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl			2012	Ball State Cardinals	Tropicana Field	St. Petersburg	21,759
6	Fiesta Bowl			2013	Baylor Bears	University of Phoenix Stadium	Glendale	65,172
7	St. Petersburg Bowl			2014	NC State Wolfpack	Tropicana Field	St. Petersburg	26,675
8	Cure Bowl			2016	Arkansas State Red Wolves	Camping World Stadium	Orlando	27,213
9	Peach Bowl			2017	Auburn Tigers	Mercedes-Benz Stadium	Atlanta	71,109
10	Fiesta Bowl		January 1, 2019	2018	LSU Tigers	State Farm Stadium	Glendale	57,246	Josh Heupel
11	Gasparilla Bowl		December 23, 2019	2019	Marshall Thundering Herd	Raymond James Stadium	Tampa	28,987	Josh Heupel
12	Boca Raton Bowl		December 22, 2020	2020	BYU Cougars	FAU Stadium	Boca Raton	6,000	Josh Heupel
13	Gasparilla Bowl		December 23, 2021	2021	Florida Gators	Raymond James Stadium	Tampa	63,669	Gus Malzahn
14	Military Bowl		December 28, 2022	2022	Duke Blue Devils	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium	Annapolis	17,974	Gus Malzahn
15	Gasparilla Bowl		December 22, 2023	2023	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	Raymond James Stadium	Tampa	30,281	Gus Malzahn

See also

• American Athletic Conference
• Bowl Championship Series
• List of UCF Knights football seasons
• List of University of Central Florida alumni

References

General:

• Holic, Nathan, and the UCF Alumni Association. University of Central Florida: The Campus History Series (2009),
• Web site: Bowl/All-Star Game Records . National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) . 2012 NCAA Division I Football Records . NCAA.org . December 7, 2013 . PDF.

In-text:

Notes and References

1. http://news.ucf.edu/UCFnews/index?page=article&id=00240041070ca5e3e010b382c8adf007ac7 UCF Football Coach O’Leary Signs 10-Year Contract Extension
2. Web site: Division I–AA Football Comes to Orlando . University of Central Florida Athletic Association . 2011-01-01 . https://archive.today/20120715205508/http://ucfathletics.cstv.com/genrel/071807aaa.html . 2012-07-15 . dead .