Knight's Fans - Enjoy the Slingshot

The UCF Knights have garnered some national publicity for several reasons over the past five years; hiring "name" coach George O'Leary to deliver the football program to the next level, spawning NFL stars like Asante Samuel, Brandon Marshall and to a lesser extent Atari Bigby, Mike Sims-Walker and Kevin Smith.  They have stolen some surprising glances when it is often revealed during football broadcasts that UCF is now the second largest school in the country.  Really?  Is the usual response I hear from any non-alums (and occasionally even fellow alums) watching the game in my vicinity.

The 2010-2011 Knights are more than just "MJ's kids"

However in nearly every aspect, UCF continues to sit upon the precipice of the long anticipated thing they and their fans crave far more than any BCS bowl game.  Relevance.

Thanks in combination to a Florida-centric preconference schedule, new coach Donnie Jones and back-to-back unparalleled recruiting classes (including three big-school transfers), it might not be the football program that delivers the expected spot on the national map.  Tonight the Knights tackle their first of three in-state "BCS" schools when the South Florida Bulls travel to Orlando.  Many Knight fans would contend it is the Knight's fiercest rival.  Someone should let the Bulls know...

You see, there in lies the problem of relevance.  It can only occur when people care beyond one's own machinations.  It has to be reciprocal.  It has to be assumed, taken for granted, rather than implied.

Over four football seasons UCF attempted to play rival to the Big East's USF much in the way NC State rivals Duke, the way the Denver Nuggets rival the Lakers, the way the Tampa Bay Rays rival the Yankees; the rivalry existed predominantly in one direction.  For Big Brother, they merely swatted away the gnat from their BCS brow.

Rumors continue to proliferate of Big East expansion and the Knight's potential inclusion.  At that point, and only at that point, can a rivalry truly bloom.  Until then, UCF, despite how large the school may become will always be playing David to the Big Four's Goliath.

The Knights have perhaps their best basketball team in school history.  Yes, they have made the NCAA Tournament four times, but each time as a seed in the high teens included only on the merit of winning the Atlantic Sun's automatic bid.  While the Big Dance might still be a big dream this season with Memphis clearly the class of the conference, this Knights team is certainly a legit NIT contender who can put a little scare in the big boys on any given night.

The Knights get their shot at nearly every in-state big boy over the next four weeks.  Tonight they host the Bulls, at the end of December they travel to Miami and even get a rare opportunity to host a ranked in-state opponent when the Florida Gators come to town in early December.  A 2-1 record would not be unrealistic, and would signify a huge evolution in the growth of Donnie Jones's fledgling program.  3-0?  Well, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Given the size of the school and the lucrative potential an exploding alumni base coupled with a Top-25 media market provide there is little doubt that someday soon UCF will join a "power" conference and be playing on a much leveler playing field with their in-state rivals.  And at that point, rivals will begin to be an apropos term.  Until then, enjoy something every bit as exhilarating as relevance, the intoxicating dream of potential.  Nothing in sports rivals the jubilation of the little guy jumping up and knocking off the giant, the wild frantic excitement that only Cinderella gets to feel in March.

Yes, someday sooner than later the Knights will stand toe to toe, fellow giants with the likes of the Gators, Seminoles and 'Canes.  But until then, enjoy something even more precious; the fanciful dreams of grandeur that only come with a slingshot in hand.

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