March 29, 2011
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By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - With baseball breaking into the top-25 this week, UCF has become one of just 10 schools in the country which have experienced a top-25 ranking in football, men's basketball and baseball during the 2010-11 season. The Knights are the only BCS non-automatically qualifying football school in that group that can boast a ranking in all three sports.
That list of 10 schools includes: UCF, Arizona, Baylor, Connecticut, Florida, Florida State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Texas and Texas A&M.
UCF, meanwhile, is the only school in the country to have their football, men's basketball, baseball, women's soccer, men's soccer and women's indoor track and field programs ranked this season.
UCF's baseball program climbed to No. 23 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll and is receiving votes in two of the other three main rankings. Its highest placement in school history was a No. 7 ranking in 2001.
The Black and Gold is 18-6 this year after taking two of three at then-No. 23 Rice, marking its first series win over the Conference USA favorite Owls. UCF has five more games against ranked teams lined up this week, starting with a home-and-home vs. No. 20 Stetson Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Orlando, the Knights will then entertain No. 20 Southern Miss Friday-Sunday in the C-USA home opener.
On the gridiron, UCF's football team secured its first top-25 ranking in school history Nov. 7 and ultimately finished at No. 21/20 thanks to an 11-3 record, a C-USA Championship title and an AutoZone Liberty Bowl victory over Georgia.
And on the hardwood, the men's basketball program also notched its first top-25 showing in school history on Dec. 20. The Knights opened the season 14-0 and moved all of the way to No. 19/18 in the nation this year, and would cap off their campaign with a spot in the College Basketball Invitational semifinals and a 21-12 record.