My first memories of UCF and conference affiliation stem from the TAAC (later rebranded as the Atlantic Sun) era.
I was still a kid, but remembered the two NCAA Tournament appearances in 1994 (vs. Purdue and Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson) and 1996 (vs. John Calipari and UMass).
The first game I attended was the 1997 season opener vs. Auburn. I had discovered the UCF Knightline message board that summer in advance of football season and it was highly encouraged by those early internet fans to "pack the Dungeon" for a big game against a SEC opponent. UCF lost, 70-63.
I was hooked after that... UCF made it to the TAAC Championship Game, played at the aging Jacksonville Veterans Coliseum, for two straight years in 1999 and 2000... losing to Samford both times. There were like 12 UCF fans at those games. Nobody cared, even though UCF was playing in a championship game in the state of Florida with the NCAA Tournament on the line. I did learn several years later that @JoeyDee75 and a young Eric DeSalvo and his brother were also there. But it was always frustrating to get people to care at all about UCF Basketball those years.
The fun years were the final two years... 2004 and 2005 championships and NCAA Tournament appearances. The 14-game winning streak that was broken at home by Troy, though UCF got revenge later on by defeating Troy in the A-Sun Championship Game. Dexter Lyons. The wigs. Getting to know Kirk Speraw and his wonderful family. Kirk's Jerks.
In 2005, I had a blast going to Nashville for the A-Sun Tournament. Ran into Vince Gill (huge Belmont fan). It was a lot of playing - and beating - Belmont in their home arena which was absolutely beautiful, at least by old UCF Arena standards. Going to Worcester for the NCAA Tournament was also quite an experience. The arena was a dump and UConn fans were major assholes.
As for baseball, UCF won multiple conference championships and reached quite a few NCAA Tournaments during this span. The 2001 top-10 series at Stetson still goes down as one of the most consequential baseball series of all time. UCF swept, went on to win the conference tournament as well and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Regionals (though had to travel to South Carolina).
The 2001 baseball conference tournament was in Jacksonville... I went to the championship game. I don't think many people went beyond parents. Pretty sure I remember @Knightshift being there though. The 2002 conference tourney was in DeLand, which UCF also won. Those were the last conference tournament championships.
Anyway, a lot of cool memories from my early exposure to UCF Athletics.
Atlantic Sun Conference (1992-05)
UCF joined the Atlantic Sun (then known as the Trans America Athletic Conference) in 1992. As a new member, the Golden Knights men's basketball squad did not play a full league schedule during the 1992-93 season. During UCF's tenure in the league, membership changes occurred frequently. Including UCF, 16 institutions were part of the conference since 1992. In 13 seasons in the league, the Golden Knights competed against Belmont, Campbell, Centenary, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Gardner-Webb, Georgia State, Jacksonville, Jacksonville State, Lipscomb, Mercer, Samford, Southeastern Louisiana, Stetson and Troy.
I was still a kid, but remembered the two NCAA Tournament appearances in 1994 (vs. Purdue and Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson) and 1996 (vs. John Calipari and UMass).
The first game I attended was the 1997 season opener vs. Auburn. I had discovered the UCF Knightline message board that summer in advance of football season and it was highly encouraged by those early internet fans to "pack the Dungeon" for a big game against a SEC opponent. UCF lost, 70-63.
I was hooked after that... UCF made it to the TAAC Championship Game, played at the aging Jacksonville Veterans Coliseum, for two straight years in 1999 and 2000... losing to Samford both times. There were like 12 UCF fans at those games. Nobody cared, even though UCF was playing in a championship game in the state of Florida with the NCAA Tournament on the line. I did learn several years later that @JoeyDee75 and a young Eric DeSalvo and his brother were also there. But it was always frustrating to get people to care at all about UCF Basketball those years.
The fun years were the final two years... 2004 and 2005 championships and NCAA Tournament appearances. The 14-game winning streak that was broken at home by Troy, though UCF got revenge later on by defeating Troy in the A-Sun Championship Game. Dexter Lyons. The wigs. Getting to know Kirk Speraw and his wonderful family. Kirk's Jerks.
In 2005, I had a blast going to Nashville for the A-Sun Tournament. Ran into Vince Gill (huge Belmont fan). It was a lot of playing - and beating - Belmont in their home arena which was absolutely beautiful, at least by old UCF Arena standards. Going to Worcester for the NCAA Tournament was also quite an experience. The arena was a dump and UConn fans were major assholes.
As for baseball, UCF won multiple conference championships and reached quite a few NCAA Tournaments during this span. The 2001 top-10 series at Stetson still goes down as one of the most consequential baseball series of all time. UCF swept, went on to win the conference tournament as well and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Regionals (though had to travel to South Carolina).
The 2001 baseball conference tournament was in Jacksonville... I went to the championship game. I don't think many people went beyond parents. Pretty sure I remember @Knightshift being there though. The 2002 conference tourney was in DeLand, which UCF also won. Those were the last conference tournament championships.
Anyway, a lot of cool memories from my early exposure to UCF Athletics.
Atlantic Sun Conference (1992-05)
UCF joined the Atlantic Sun (then known as the Trans America Athletic Conference) in 1992. As a new member, the Golden Knights men's basketball squad did not play a full league schedule during the 1992-93 season. During UCF's tenure in the league, membership changes occurred frequently. Including UCF, 16 institutions were part of the conference since 1992. In 13 seasons in the league, the Golden Knights competed against Belmont, Campbell, Centenary, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Gardner-Webb, Georgia State, Jacksonville, Jacksonville State, Lipscomb, Mercer, Samford, Southeastern Louisiana, Stetson and Troy.
