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Mike Bianchi: UCF’s Big 12 growing pains need to become growing gains
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- Mike Bianchi: UCF’s Big 12 growing pains need to become growing gains
ORLANDO, Fla. — No more excuses.
No more transition seasons.
No more rebuilding years.
No more grading UCF football on a curve.
Nobody expects UCF to go 13-0 this season. Nobody expects Scott Frost to recreate the magic of 2017, turn Alonza Barnett III into McKenzie Milton or schedule another parade down Main Street at Disney World. But UCF does need to start becoming relevant in the Big 12.
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Because at some point, the Knights have to stop talking about becoming a successful Big 12 football program and start acting like one.
As UCF begins the 2026 season Thursday night against Bethune-Cookman, that time is now.
There were plenty of legitimate reasons for last season's 5-7 record. Frost inherited a program in disarray and essentially had to construct a roster from scratch. Roughly 70 newcomers arrived. Coaches were learning players. Players were learning coaches. Players were learning each other.
Under those circumstances, 5-7 wasn't some unforgivable failure. It was understandable.
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But, make no mistake about it, understandable can't become acceptable. Not for a program that spent years pounding on the door of the Power Five and demanding to be let inside.
UCF wanted this. Remember?
The Knights wanted the bigger conference. The bigger games. The bigger television audiences. The bigger checks. The bigger stage. They built facilities. They raised money. They expanded the stadium. They grew their fan base. They relentlessly promoted themselves as one of the fastest-rising programs in college football.
They challenged the sport's establishment and screamed from the rooftops that they belonged. And you know what? They were right. UCF did belong.
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But getting into the Big 12 and succeeding in the Big 12 are two very different accomplishments. Three seasons into this grand adventure, UCF is 15-22 as a Big 12 member and still hasn't produced a winning season.
At some point, you have to stop celebrating the invitation and start doing something once you get to the party. This is that point.
For three years, we've heard perfectly reasonable explanations for why the Knights haven't won: The competition is tougher. The rosters are deeper. The offensive and defensive lines are bigger. The week-to-week grind is unlike anything UCF encountered in the American Athletic Conference.
All true.
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But it also can't matter anymore.
UCF didn't spend years begging its way into the Big 12 so it could spend years explaining why the Big 12 is difficult. The Knights knew what they were signing up for. Now they have to become what they said they were ready to be.
And that responsibility extends far beyond Frost. It belongs to an athletic department that must provide the resources necessary to compete in the most transactional era college football has ever seen. It belongs to boosters and donors who wanted UCF on the big stage and now must help pay the increasingly enormous price of staying there.
It belongs to the coaches, who have to recruit and develop Big 12-caliber players. It belongs to the players, who have to prove they can win against Big 12-caliber opponents. And, yes, it even belongs to a fan base that spent years demanding that the rest of college football take UCF seriously.
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Being a Big 12 program isn't a logo you paint on the field.
It's a standard.
That's what this season should be about. Not 13-0. Not 2017. Not national championships or playoff proclamations or arguments about respect. The standard right now is much simpler.
Become relevant.
Play meaningful games in November. Beat good teams. Protect the Bounce House on its 20th anniversary. Go on the road in the Big 12 and stop looking surprised when the other team punches you in the mouth. Get to a bowl game. Finish with a winning conference record.
Yes, there was a time when six or seven victories would have felt beneath UCF. During the spectacular run from 2017-19, the Knights went 35-4. They won conference championships, played in major bowl games and spent much of their time arguing that college football's power structure wasn't giving them enough respect.
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Those arguments seem almost quaint now.
UCF has the respect. It has the conference. It has the television money. It has one of the most fertile recruiting territories in America. It has improving facilities. It has an enormous university and an alumni base that grows larger every year. It has a fan base that has repeatedly demonstrated it will show up when given something worth showing up for.
What UCF doesn't have yet is a winning Big 12 football program. And let's be real: it's not like the Big 12 is the the Big Ten. If Indiana can run the table in the Big Ten then UCF should be able to have a winning record in the Big 12 — a conference that has had six different teams win the championship in the past six years.
That's the next step in the evolution. And perhaps that's why this season feels more important than simply Year 2 of Frost's return. The question isn't whether Frost can recreate UCF's past. The question is whether UCF can finally grow into its future.
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The program spent most of the past two decades climbing — from Conference USA to the American to the Big 12, from regional curiosity to national disruptor to Power Four member. For years, there was always another rung on the ladder.
Now there isn't.
UCF has arrived where it always wanted to go. The challenge is no longer getting there. It's proving you belong once you arrive.
Last season, UCF could explain 5-7. This season, another losing record would be much harder to explain away. The roster is better. The staff is more settled. The program has more continuity. And UCF has now had three full seasons to understand exactly what life in the Big 12 requires.
The grace period is over.
The Knights spent years asking college football to treat it like a big-time program. College football finally did.
Now it's time for UCF to start acting like one.
