Nov. 10, 2005
ORLANDO - The UCF Cheerleading team has received an automatic bid directly into the finals of the 2006 national championships, which will be held January 15, at the Disney's Wide World of Sports®. Linda Gooch's squad is one of nine in the country to receive an automatic berth into the finals. The Golden Knights will head into the competition ranked fourth, just behind Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Meanwhile, the UCF dance team, "Knightmoves," has qualified to compete for the college dance team national championship and will begin with the semifinal round. Knightmoves is currently ranked sixth nationally behind Minnesota, Wisconsin, Memphis, LSU and Tennessee. They finished fifth in the country in both 2003 and 2004.
The rankings and automatic qualifications for the cheerleaders are as a result of video entries by the competing teams. The 90-second entries are judged on the performance of a set of required skills. Once at the competition, those tapes will have no bearing on the outcome. The teams will, however, submit another tape showing crowd response to the cheerleaders at various sporting events. That tape will make up 15 percent of the teams' final scores.
"I'm really proud of this group and the way they have responded after a disappointing finish in last year's competition," Gooch said. "This automatic bid is great and will help with the team's confidence, but it is not the end, it's really just the beginning. We have to keep working hard and stay focused on our goal of re-claiming the national title."
The UCF cheerleaders won the national championship in 2003, and have finished in the top 10 in national competition 10 times in the last 12 years. This is just the third time the UCF cheerleaders have received an automatic bid to finals. The team also automatically advanced to the finals in 2002, the year it finished runner-up to Kentucky and in 2003, when it claimed its first national title.
The other five teams receiving an automatic bid into the finals are Memphis, LSU, Ohio State, Minnesota and Hawaii. An additional 21 teams received invitations but will be required to go through preliminary or semi-final rounds.
Division I-A Cheer Automatic Bid to Finals
1. Alabama
1. Kentucky
3. Tennessee
4. UCF
5. Memphis
6. LSU
7. Ohio State
8. Minnesota
9. Hawaii
Invitation to Semifinals
10. Ball State
11. Central Michigan
12. Cincinnati
13. Illinois
14. Indiana
15. Kent State
16. Eastern Michigan
17. Michigan State
18. Mississippi
19. Mississippi State
20. Oklahoma
21. Oregon State
22. Penn State
23. Texas
24. Texas Tech
25. Wisconsin
Invitation to Prelims
26. Colorado State
27. University of Iowa
28. University of Kansas
29. Syracuse University
30. Wake Forest
Dance - Division IA - Automatic Bid to Finals
1. Minnesota
2. Wisconsin
3. Memphis
4. LSU
5. Tennessee
Invitation to Semifinals
6. UCF
7. Florida State
8. Louisiana-Lafayette
9. Cincinnati
10. South Florida
11. Iowa
12. Oklahoma
13. Auburn
14. Michigan State
14. Vanderbilt
16. Kansas
17. Texas Tech
18. Texas
19. Alabama
20. Illinois
21. Northwestern
22. Colorado State
23. Kent State
24. Michigan
25. Nebraska
26. Wake Forest
27. Eastern Michigan