Orlando City Hall will celebrate the city’s hometown team all season long, ahead of the University of Central Florida Knights’ inaugural season in the Big 12 Conference.
City and UCF officials – Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, UCF football coach Gus Malzahn and UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir, as well as the UCF cheer team and Knightro – joined at City Hall Thursday to mark the occasion and raise a Knights flag ahead of the season.
“The City of Orlando is proud and thrilled that UCF will serve as the Big 12 flagship school in the state,” Mayor Dyer said at Thursday’s event.
During his speech, Mayor Dyer declared Orlando an official Big 12 city, further solidifying the city’s support for the Knights.
Founded in 1963, UCF is now the youngest school in history to make it into the Power Five.
UCF is also the only state university to be a current member of the Big 12, joined by other schools such as Iowa State, Texas Tech, Kansas State and Baylor.
Coach Malzahn expressed gratuity to several people during his speech for leading UCF on this path to success including Mayor Dyer and his staff, Terry Mohajir, UCF President Dr. Alexander Cartwright, and of course the Knights’ fanbase.
“We got one of the best fanbases, if not the best fanbase, in all of college sports, in college football,” Malzahn said. “It has a whole lot to do with why we’re here today.”
The Knights’ 2023 season kick-off against Kent State happens Aug. 31 at Orlando’s FBC Mortgage Stadium.
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This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 1, 2023.