The NCAA granted the University of Central Florida\u2019s appeal of a one-year football postseason ban today, making the Knights bowl eligible for the 2013 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are pleased with this ruling and applaud the NCAA for handling our appeal with care, competency and professionalism,\u201d UCF President John C. Hitt said. \u201cOur football program looks forward to competing for an American Athletic Conference championship and a bowl berth.\u201d<\/p>\n
In July 2012, the NCAA announced penalties for past violations that occurred in UCF\u2019s football and men’s basketball programs. The university accepted all of the penalties except for one: a one-year postseason football ban.<\/p>\n
In its report about the appeal, the NCAA wrote \u201cthe penalty in question was based in significant part on irrelevant factors resulting in an abuse of discretion\u201d by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was great news for UCF, the UCF football program and the fan base with the appeal committee reversing the decision on the postseason ban,\u201d head coach George O\u2019Leary said. \u201cPresident Hitt decided to appeal this ban and I\u2019m glad for UCF and the football program that it turned out in our favor.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Knights will play one of the most anticipated schedules in team history this season. UCF plays it first game in the American Athletic Conference Oct. 5 at Memphis, while its first home conference game is set for Oct. 26 against Connecticut.<\/p>\n
Thanksgiving weekend sees UCF renew its I-4 rivalry with USF on Friday, Nov. 29, either on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2. Family Weekend is Sept. 28 against South Carolina, and Homecoming is Nov. 9 vs. Houston.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re certainly happy with this outcome,\u201d said Vice President and Director of Athletics Todd Stansbury. \u201cWe appealed the postseason ban for football because we felt it went beyond what was supported by the facts, and we\u2019re pleased the Infractions Appeals Committee agreed with us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the appeal process behind us, we\u2019re ready to move forward. Our first season in the American Athletic Conference, including the opportunity to play in a bowl game, is right around the corner. It\u2019s an exciting time for the Knights.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NCAA granted the University of Central Florida\u2019s appeal of a one-year football postseason ban today, making the Knights bowl eligible for the 2013 season. \u201cWe are pleased with this ruling and applaud the NCAA for handling our appeal with care, competency and professionalism,\u201d UCF President John C. Hitt said. \u201cOur football program looks forward to competing for an American…","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":48375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[9805,1810,1939,2510,3346,6628],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-48371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-american-athletic-conference","tag-football","tag-george-oleary","tag-john-c-hitt","tag-ncaa","tag-todd-stansbury"],"yoast_head":"\n