{"id":135995,"date":"2023-06-29T13:01:21","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T17:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=135995"},"modified":"2023-10-19T13:06:52","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T17:06:52","slug":"ucf-athletics-eras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-athletics-eras\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Athletics\u2019 Eras"},"content":{"rendered":"

As UCF approaches its inaugural season as the youngest member of a Power 5 conference, the athletics department is taking a look back to commemorate this special moment in history. The following feature is a part of UCF\u2019s 12 for XII series \u2014 12 stories that define UCF and the meteoric rise of the Knights in their journey to the Big 12 Conference.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Pop quiz: Name the five youngest universities among the current Power 5 conferences.<\/p>\n

All before the invention of bubble gum, you\u2019ve got UCLA in 1919, Texas Tech in 1923, Miami in 1925 and Houston in 1927.<\/p>\n

By far and away the youngest is UCF, founded in 1963. Initially named Florida Technological University, it was established to provide a pipeline of talent for the United States space program at nearby Cape Canaveral.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible to appreciate the journey of UCF Athletics without a timeline that exhibits the youth of the institution and the manner in which the athletics program has skyrocketed to success.<\/p>\n