For the third time in history, the UCF football team is headed to the Gasparilla Bowl where the Knights won postseason assignments in both 2019 and 2021.
Big 12 Conference representative UCF (6-6) will meet Atlantic Coast Conference member Georgia Tech (6-6) at 6:30 p.m. EST on Friday, Dec. 22, 2023, in 65,000-seat Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. The game will be televised by ESPN.
Ticket information including pricing, seat locations and the seat selection process will be available Monday (Dec. 4) with priority given to Shareholders Society members and 2023 season-ticket members.
It’s a program-record eighth consecutive postseason bowl appearance for the Knights, the 11th in 12 seasons and the 15th in 19 years. UCF also previously played in the NCAA Division II playoffs in 1987 and in the NCAA FCS Playoffs in 1990 and 1993.
It’s the third time in five years UCF has played in the Gasparilla Bowl—and the second time in three years that has happened under current UCF coach Gus Malzahn. The Knights defeated Florida 29-17 in the 2021 Gasparilla Bowl and won 48-25 against Marshall in the 2019 Gasparilla Bowl.
The Knights previously have played twice each in the Fiesta Bowl (following 2014 and 2018 seasons), Liberty Bowl (2007 and 2010), St. Petersburg Bowl (2009 and 2014) and Gasparilla Bowl (2019 and 2021) and once each in the Hawaii Bowl (2005), Beef O’Brady’s Bowl (2012), Cure Bowl (2016), Peach Bowl (2017), Boca Raton Bowl (2020) and Military Bowl (2022).
Malzahn has seen his teams qualify for postseason bowl games in all 12 years he has been a head coach, including seven appearances in New Year’s Day games: 2013 in BCS National Championship Game vs. Florida State, 2014 in Outback Bowl vs. Wisconsin, 2015 in Birmingham Bowl win vs. Memphis, 2016 in Sugar Bowl vs. Oklahoma, 2017 in Peach Bowl vs. UCF, 2018 in Music City Bowl win vs. Purdue, 2019 Outback Bowl vs. Minnesota, 2021 Gasparilla Bowl vs. Florida, 2022 Military vs. Duke and 2023 Gasparilla Bowl vs. Georgia Tech. Malzahn’s 2012 Arkansas State team qualified for a bowl game—but he already had accepted the head coaching job at Auburn and did not coach the bowl game. He also did not coach the Auburn bowl game after the 2020 season after leading the Tigers to the Citrus Bowl vs. Northwestern.
UCF and Georgia Tech will play for the sixth time and the second consecutive season—with UCF winning 27-10 in 2022 in Orlando. The first four meetings took place in Atlanta in 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2020.
Here are details of UCF’s postseason appearances (6-8 in bowl games, 9-11 overall):
-- 1987—UCF defeated Indiana (Pa.) 12-10 in NCAA Division II Playoffs first round
Troy defeated UCF 31-10 in NCAA Division II Playoffs second round
-- 1990—UCF defeated Youngstown State 20-17 in NCAA FCS Playoffs first round
UCF defeated William & Mary 52-38 in NCAA FCS Playoff second round
Georgia Southern defeated UCF 44-7 in NCAA FCS Playoffs semifinal
-- 1993—Youngstown State defeated UCF 56-30 in NCAA FCS Playoffs
-- 2005—Nevada defeated UCF 49-48 in Hawaii Bowl
-- 2007—Mississippi State defeated UCF 10-3 in Liberty Bowl
-- 2009—Rutgers defeated UCF 45-24 in St. Petersburg Bowl
-- 2010—UCF defeated Georgia 10-6 in Liberty Bowl
-- 2012—UCF defeated Ball State 38-17 in Beef O’Brady’s Bowl
-- 2013—#15 UCF defeated #6 Baylor 52-42 in Fiesta Bowl
-- 2014—NC State defeated UCF 34-27 in St. Petersburg Bowl
-- 2016—Arkansas State defeated UCF 31-13 in Cure Bowl
-- 2017—#12 UCF defeated #7 Auburn 34-27 in Peach Bowl
-- 2018—#11 LSU defeated #7 UCF 40-32 in Fiesta Bowl
-- 2019—UCF defeated Marshall 48-25 in Gasparilla Bowl
-- 2020—#13 BYU defeated UCF 49-23 in Boca Raton Bowl
-- 2021—UCF defeated Florida 29-17 in Gasparilla Bowl
-- 2022—Duke defeated UCF 30-13 in Military Bowl
-- 2023—UCF vs. Georgia Tech in Gasparilla Bowl
Here are details of bowl qualifications by Gus Malzahn-coached teams:
-- *2012—Northern Illinois defeated Arkansas State 38-20 in GoDaddy.com Bowl
-- 2013—#1 Florida State defeated #2 Auburn 34-31 in BCS Championship Game (Rose Bowl)
-- 2014—#17 Wisconsin defeated #19 Auburn 34-31 in OT in Outback Bowl
-- 2015—Auburn defeated Memphis 31-10 in Birmingham Bowl
-- 2016—#7 Oklahoma defeated #14 Auburn 35-19 in Sugar Bowl
-- 2017—#12 UCF defeated #7 Auburn 34-27 in Peach Bowl
-- 2018—Auburn defeated Purdue 63-14 in Music City Bowl
-- 2019—#18 Minnesota defeated #12 Auburn 31-24 in Outback Bowl
-- *2020—#15 Northwestern defeated Auburn 35-19 in Citrus Bowl
-- 2021—UCF defeated Florida 29-17 in Gasparilla Bowl
-- 2022—Duke defeated UCF 30-13 in Military Bowl
-- 2023—UCF vs. Georgia Tech in Gasparilla Bowl
*Malzahn’s teams qualified, but he did not coach in the postseason following the 2012 and 2020 seasons.