The 2017 UCF Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Knights played their home games at the newly renamed Spectrum Stadium in Orlando, Florida, and competed in the East Division of the American Athletic Conference. They were led by second year head coach Scott Frost.

The Knights finished the regular season 12–0, the football program's first ever undefeated regular season and second twelve-win season. They clinched the AAC East Division crown after a last-minute win over rival No. 22 South Florida, in a game which received national attention as one of the best of the season. UCF then hosted the American Athletic Conference Championship Game where they defeated Memphis 62–55, in a double overtime shootout. The Knights season culminated in a 2018 Peach Bowl win over No. 7 Auburn. The effort came just two years after an 0–12 winless season (2015). UCF became the first team in the history of NCAA Division I FBS to improve from a winless regular season to an undefeated regular season in only two years.

Despite being the only undefeated team in FBS, UCF did not receive a spot in the College Football Playoff. Frost criticized the College Football Playoff committee, saying that the Knights "deserve[d] more credit from the committee than what they got." Frost believed that the committee deliberately ranked the Knights low enough on a weekly basis that they had no realistic chance of finishing in the top four. The Knights proclaimed themselves national champions at the end of the season. Florida lawmakers proposed passing a resolution declaring UCF the national champions, which Florida Governor Rick Scott proclaimed officially on January 8, 2018, the day of the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship between Alabama and Georgia. Following that game, on January 9, UCF was ranked No. 1 in the final Colley Matrix, a mathematical ranking designated by the NCAA as a major selector of championships and listed in the NCAA football records book. UCF also received four first place votes in the final AP Poll.

Preseason Spring game The 2017 UCF Spring game was held Saturday April 22 at the Bounce House. The team was split into two squads. Team UCFast consisted mostly of the first team offense and defense, and UCFierce was made up of second team players.

Date Time Spring Game Site Result Attendance April 22 6:30pm Team UCFierce vs. Team UCFast Bounce House • Orlando, FL Team UCFierce 35–28

AAC media poll The AAC preseason media prediction poll was released on July 18, 2017. The Knights were predicted to finish second in the conference's East Division.

Media poll (West) 1 South Florida 180 (30) 2 UCF 126 3 Temple 119 4 Cincinnati 100 5 East Carolina 63 6 UConn 42

Schedule

Rankings

Season summary In just his second season as head coach, and just two years removed from the winless 2015 campaign, head coach Scott Frost aimed to continue the UCF football teams's turnaround. Frost had brought the team six wins in 2016, making them bowl-eligible. Going into 2017, the team looked to build on their momentum.

UCF announced its 2017 football schedule on February 9, 2017. The 2017 schedule originally consisted of seven home and five away games in the regular season. The Knights were set to host conference foes UConn, East Carolina, Memphis, and South Florida and were to travel to Cincinnati, Navy, SMU, and Temple. The Knights also hosted one of their two non-conference opponents, FIU from Conference USA, and traveled to Maryland from the Big Ten.

The Knights opened their season with a lopsided victory against FIU.

UCF was scheduled to host games against Georgia Tech from the ACC, and Maine from the Colonial Athletic Association, before Hurricane Irma caused the Georgia Tech and Memphis games to be canceled. They ended up canceling the Maine game to make time to reschedule the Memphis game. On September 21, 2017, UCF added a home game against the FCS Austin Peay Governors for October 28 to make up for canceling other games, although their regular season still ended up 1 game shorter than normal.

After a 22-day layoff for the hurricane, the Knights had an impressive win at Maryland, leading to a much-anticipated intra-conference meeting against 3–0 Memphis. The Knights soundly beat the Memphis Tigers, establishing themselves as the new front-runner in the AAC. The Knights entered both the AP and Coaches Polls, and later in October, they were also ranked in the CFP rankings.

Statistically, the Knights were the top scoring team in the nation (48.2 points per game), and finished 5th in yards per game (530). With blowout wins against Cincinnati, East Carolina, and Austin Peay, along with closer, pivotal wins against Navy and SMU, the Knights were 10–0 entering the final game of the regular season. The Knights hosted rival South Florida on Black Friday to decide the AAC East Division crown. In a shootout game described by some observers as one of the best games of the college football season, the Knights won the game 49–42.

The Knights finished the regular season 11–0, the program's first ever undefeated regular season. With the win, UCF would host the AAC Championship game. The school set an NCAA mark by becoming the first team to go from a winless regular season (2015) to an undefeated regular season in only two years. The team set school records for most consecutive games won, most points in a single game, and saw many players and coaches receive individual superlative awards.

In the latter weeks of the regular season, fueled by the team's success on the field, media reports began surfacing about the possibility of head coach Scott Frost departing UCF for another school. Frost, the former national championship winning quarterback at Nebraska, had expressed personal interest in the Cornhuskers head coaching job, and it incidentally became available in November. Frost was also rumored for some of the many higher-profile vacancies, including Florida, Tennessee, and others. Nebraska athletic officials actively targeted Frost in their coaching search, and after Frost shot down rumors of going to Florida, it became clear Frost's future would be either at Nebraska, or continuing at UCF.

Despite the ongoing coaching rumors, UCF went on to win the AAC Championship game in dramatic fashion. The game was a rematch against Memphis, but this time the game was a shootout. The Knights prevailed 62–55 in double overtime. The win cemented UCF as the top Group of Five school in the nation, clinching them an automatic berth in a New Year's Six bowl game. Despite their unblemished 12–0 record up to that point, the Knights were not named to the College Football Playoff top four, and effectively could not play for the CFP National Championship. The Knights were paired against No. 7 Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on New Year's Day. Auburn had notably defeated No. 1 Alabama in the Iron Bowl, but lost the SEC Championship to Georgia a week later, slipping out of the CFP themselves.

A day after winning the AAC, head coach Scott Frost was formally introduced as the new head coach of Nebraska, as had been widely speculated. UCF immediately named offensive coordinator Troy Walters as the interim head coach. Frost would be taking nearly his entire staff with him to Nebraska, potentially leaving UCF without a coaching staff for the bowl season. The newly introduced NCAA early signing period fueled Nebraska's urgency of hiring Frost, as school officials were anxious for Frost to begin recruiting immediately. Meanwhile, UCF named Josh Heupel their new head coach, but stopped short of committing Heupel to coaching in the bowl. After several days of uncertainty, and mild controversy, an agreement was reached such that Frost and his staff would return to UCF to coach the bowl game. Despite the difficulty of juggling two teams at once, Frost was committed to coaching UCF in the Peach Bowl, and called finishing out the UCF job as the 'right thing to do.'

The Knights defeated the Auburn Tigers in the Peach Bowl 34–27, completing a perfect 13–0 season. In the aftermath, UCF athletic director Danny White created a stir when he publicly proclaimed UCF the national champions, despite the CFP championship game still being one week away. Several other outlets followed suit, including the Orlando Sentinel, WYGM, Prince George Journal, and the Colley Matrix. Other national media outlets debated the issue over the next several days. UCF received four first place votes in the final AP Poll, and placed 6th overall. The Knights were honored with a parade at Walt Disney World, a block party in downtown Orlando at Church Street Station, and were presented with the Key to the City by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a resolution officially recognizing the Knights as national champions on January 8, and later in the month, the Knights were honored at the 2018 NFL Pro Bowl.

Off the field, UCF's home stadium changed its name to Spectrum Stadium, reflecting the acquisition of Bright House Networks by Charter Communications, and subsequent re-branding as Spectrum.

Game summaries

FIU

Statistics FIUUCFFirst downs 13 31Total yards 335 587Rushing yards 134 148Passing yards 201 439Turnovers 4 2Time of possession 24:31 35:29 Team Category Player StatisticsFIUPassing Alex McGough 18/29, 201 yards, TD, INTRushing Napoleon Maxwell 4 rushes, 61 yards, TDReceiving Thomas Owens 4 receptions, 99 yards, TDUCFPassing McKenzie Milton 16/21, 360 yards, 4 TD, INTRushing Jawon Hamilton 12 rushes, 56 yards, TDReceiving Dredrick Snelson 4 receptions, 98 yards

The Knights opened the season on Thursday night against FIU. It was the start of the second season for head coach Scott Frost at UCF, as well as the first game for FIU under head coach Butch Davis. The Knights routed the Panthers, as the offense racked up 587 yards, and quarterback McKenzie Milton threw for 360 yards and four touchdown passes (22 yards, 50 yards, 3 yards, 13 yards, respectively). There were four rushing touchdowns, including a 51-yard run by Napoleon Maxwell in the third quarter. The UCF defense forced three fumbles, an interception, a safety, and four 3-and-outs by the Panthers offense.

At Maryland

Statistics UCFMDFirst downs 18 18Total yards 428 197Rushing yards 250 42Passing yards 178 155Turnovers 0 2Time of possession 30:43 29:17 Team Category Player StatisticsUCFPassing McKenzie Milton 18/30, 178 yards, TDRushing McKenzie Milton 6 rushes, 94 yardsReceiving Jordan Akins 3 receptions, 57 yards, TDMarylandPassing Max Bortenschlager 15/26, 132 yards, TD, 2 INTRushing Lorenzo Harrison III 10 rushes, 48 yardsReceiving D. J. Moore 8 receptions, 83 yards, TD

After a 22-day layoff due to Hurricane Irma, UCF was back on the field in Week 4. With the teams coming into the matchup ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in scoring (61 points for UCF and 57 points for Maryland) and having gone to double overtime in their meeting last year, the game was expected to be close. After a slow start for both teams, Maryland's backup quarterback, Kasim Hill, was injured and taken off the field in the first quarter. While the Terrapins were able to score the opening field goal at the end of that drive, they could not contain the Knights offense much longer, as the offense combined for 428 total yards. Meanwhile, the Knights defense overpowered the Terrapins on offense, keeping the Terrapins to 42 rushing yards, while the Knights picked off third-string quarterback Max Bortenschlager twice, returning one for a touchdown.

Memphis

Statistics MEMUCFFirst downs 25 27Total yards 396 603Rushing yards 75 350Passing yards 321 253Turnovers 4 1Time of possession 22:37 37:23