ORLANDO – UCF men's basketball will spend Thanksgiving week competing close to home after being selected to the 2026 ESPN Events Invitational, ESPN announced Thursday.
The tournament will be held Nov. 23-27 at State Farm Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Florida. The Knights are one of 10 teams participating in the annual event, which celebrates its 20th year at Walt Disney World Resort.
UCF will compete in the Magic Group alongside Boston College, Cincinnati and Georgia. The Knights will play two games, beginning on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, before facing a second opponent on Friday, Nov. 27. Matchups and game times will be announced at a later date.
The Knights return to the ESPN Events Invitational after earning an at-large berth to the 2026 NCAA Tournament, finishing the 2025-26 season with a 21-12 record. UCF defeated three AP Top 20 opponents during Big 12 play and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.
This marks the third time UCF has competed in the Thanksgiving-week event near campus, previously appearing in 2007 and 2017.
The 10-team field is divided into the Adventure Group and Magic Group and includes four 2026 NCAA Tournament teams: Akron, Georgia, UCF and Wright State. Yale also enters the field after earning a berth in the NIT.
All games will be played at State Farm Field House, which has hosted numerous premier basketball events, including NBA playoff games and elite amateur tournaments.
Fans can sign up for presale ticket access through the ESPN Events Invitational website.
About ESPN Events
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a portfolio of collegiate sporting events nationwide. In the 2024-25 academic year, the 34-event schedule includes four early-season college football kickoff games, 17 college bowl games, 10 college basketball events, the premiere regular season college softball and gymnastics events, as well as the Band of the Year National Championship. Collectively, these events account for over 400 hours of live programming on ESPN platforms, reaching 60 million viewers and attracting more than 650,000 annual attendees. Each year, the portfolio of events features more than 20 Division I conferences and hosts over 4,000 participating student-athletes. With satellite offices in more than 10 cities across the country, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.
About ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is where sports dreams come true for athletes and fans of all ages. Located at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, the complex is the home of a variety of events including Disney Soccer and Disney Spring Training and has accommodated 70 different sports featuring athletes from 70 different countries since opening in 1997. Designed to provide professional, amateur and youth athletes with experiences synonymous with the names Disney and ESPN, the 260+-acre facility features multiple competition venues, including 16 baseball/softball fields; a 9,500-seat stadium; a state-of-the-art indoor arena and two versatile field houses for basketball, volleyball, and other indoor sports; and 17 multi-purpose fields for outdoor sports including soccer, football and field hockey. The complex includes a professional production center that produces content for global distribution on the Disney family of networks. For more information, visit www.disneysportsnews.com for news releases, photos and videos.
About UCF Athletics
UCF is a proud member of the Big 12 Conference. Our mission is to positively transform the lives of our students academically, athletically, and personally through a nationally competitive intercollegiate athletics program that enhances the reputation and visibility of the University. We strive to be Florida's preeminent athletic program representing UCF and our community with distinction on the national stage as "Orlando's Hometown Team". To learn more about UCF and Athletics, please visit our websites at www.ucf.edu and www.ucfknights.com.