UCF Knights vs. Houston Cougars Could Be the Perfect Homecoming Weekend

Photo courtesy of ucfathletics.com

My perfect homecoming weekend:

Friday

Dad, brother, and girlfriend come up to visit. Dad takes me out to Longhorn Steakhouse, where I can sit down and eat something other than ramen noodles and PB&J. Tell my brother that he needs to get better grades if he ever wants to get into UCF. Not get into a fight about it.

Finish dinner in time to go to the UCF basketball game. Hopefully enough people are at the game to show off my school in front of my dad, brother, and girlfriend. UCF beats UMass 113-80. Marcus Jordan scores 50 points while wearing a shiny new pair of Addidas.

Saturday

Wake up early and go to First Watch for breakfast; Dad pays again. Get back on campus half way through the parade, just in time to catch the end. Go back to the dorm, confirm that I have not forgotten to do any homework. Check this article on Bleacherreport.com— 700 reads!

Go to the homecoming game at noon, the game against No. 13 ranked Houston. UCF wins 34-31 in an instant classic, and earns the first victory against a Top 25 team in program history.

Wait a second, did I just say…yes I did. UCF has never won a game against a Top 25 ranked opponent.

In 1995 the Knights lost against a No. 1 ranked Florida State University team 46-14. Since then we have lost 21 straight games against ranked opponents. That adds up to a whopping 0-22 against Top 25 football teams.

Either that was a much worse loss than I remember (I was four years old) and the football program never got over it, or UCF has been riddled with inconsistencies and just can’t perform in the big game, ever.

I’ll go with the latter.

So why should this weekend be any different? After 14 years of disappointment, why should they win just because this is my first year here? No reason other than— they are due.

I do believe that the Knights have a chance to beat Houston. The Cougars (whose only loss came against UTEP, another C-USA team) may have the nation’s top-ranked offense, but UCF has the top-ranked defense in C-USA in most categories. But it isn’t my job to preview the game.

Personally, I would rather have another crowd of 48,000 attend and UCF lose in a close game, than be another participant in a crowd of 20,000 and UCF win. I think it is pretty funny how UCF keeps advertising these “Armored in Black” games, too. Let’s concentrate on getting people in the stadium before we start wearing matching outfits, shall we?

I’ll be wearing black though.

This is homecoming, and even though we had no idea that Houston would have a Heisman candidate playing quarterback when we scheduled it for this weekend, and that Houston would be ranked 13th in the nation, it is all the more reason why students should go out and support our team.

And as if that was not enough, this is the first game in which our new entrance song will play. “Welcome Home” by Coheed and Cambria was voted as the new song by SGA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEsnX4utdyQ ).

Could this be a new era of UCF football? If all the students are armored in black and jamming out to the hard-rock-riffs of Coheed and Cambria, giving the Knights a chance at beating Houston and earning our first V-I-C-T-O-R-Y against a ranked opponent, then yes, it just might be.

Plus, it would be nice to show off my school for my dad, brother, and girlfriend.