The UCF Men’s Soccer Team will be competing in another athletic season at the American Athletic Conference before becoming an affiliate member of the Sun Belt Conference from 2023 to 24.
“I am very excited to be able to partner with Keith Gil and Deputy Kathy Keane. They are wonderful people and I am excited to work with them again,” said UCF. Vice President and Athletics Director Terry Mohazil said. “We are confident that the move to Sunbelt will make the men’s football program a huge success in the coming years. Coach Carabrese has shown that his team can compete with the best teams in the United States. We can’t wait for the program to continue to grow and compete in the very powerful Sunbelt Conference. “
This move is parallel to other UCF sports moving to the Big 12 Conference, a league that does not sponsor men’s football in 2023-24. The Knights have been part of the Americans for nine seasons and will launch their tenth final campaign in August as part of the conference. Black and Gold have been successful as part of the league and have reached the conference finals in each of the last five seasons. Meanwhile, UCF has won three regular season titles and one tournament championship. The Knights have participated in nine NCAA tournaments, including three of the last four seasons (2018, 2019, 2020).
Head coach Scott Calabrese said: “We are pleased that Sunbelt will be home to both Big 12 and SEC men’s football, along with the 2020 National Champions Marshall and many top football programs. This is an exciting new challenge for our program. Yes, I can’t wait to be part of it in 2023. “
Sanbert is the fourth conference attended by the UCF Men’s Soccer Program, playing in the Atlantic Sun from 1993 to 2004, Conference USA from 2005 to 2012, and the United States from 2013 to 2022. increase.
Keith Gil, Commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference, said: “I look forward to the bright future of men’s football at Sunbelt.”
Sunbelt recently reappeared as a conference and resumed play in 2022 after sponsoring men’s football from 1976 to 1995 and 2014 to 20. The Knights will only participate in Kentucky, South Carolina and West Virginia as members of men’s football. These four teams will join James Madison, Marshall, Old Dominion, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern and Georgia.
The improved Sunbelt members have recently had great success. Marshall won the national championship in the 2020 season and played in the spring of 2021. West Virginia and Kentucky have reached Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament this season, finishing 8th and 11th respectively in the United Soccer Coaches Association’s vote. Coastal Carolina is one of the NCAA’s most winning programs and has played 10 NCAA tournaments since 2010. Overall, six of UCF’s nine future conferencemates finished in the Top 75 of the RPI this season, and four of them finished in the Top 35.
With the addition of black and gold, Sunbelt boasts some of the most complete programs in the sport. The nine teams scheduled to start this fall have participated in more than 100 NCAA tournaments.
