In the fall, the UCF campus will host its first midweek college football game at Bright House Networks Stadium.
Because of the game, scheduled for Oct. 6, afternoon classes will be cancelled to accommodate the alumni, Golden Knights Club and students in tailgating procedures.
Some students have expressed their displeasure with having to miss class that Wednesday, particularly those who only have lectures once a week.
Although playing a football game on a week day is disruptive to academia, college athletics, especially football, is the biggest way to get national publicity for the university.
It is simply a numbers game. Collegiate athletics serve universities by getting the school’s name out to the public.
The Knights played many midweek games at the Citrus Bowl in previous years and although UCF does not have national appeal, the program’s brand name was on TV as the only college game being broadcast on that night.
This year, the game against the University of Alabama-Birmingham will be televised on ESPN, and for three hours, the school will get exposure without having to pay a penny.
Collegiate success creates an avenue of interest that academics in no way can come close to attracting. This reason alone is why athletics are so integral to a university.
The Knights are far from being a nationally recognized football team, but being in the spotlight always helps.
With UCF hosting a midweek game, it falls on the fans if the stadium is not filled up.
It’s one thing to play on TV, but it’s another thing to see the usual UCF game where only 20,000 people really show up.
Football is an academic institution’s best friend, whether you want to believe it or not.
Just look at some of the big names in college football: Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State,Florida, Florida State, Texas and Oklahoma.
All of these institutions are great academically, but athletics is what gets the word out to the regular person.
UCF is home to the third-largest enrollment in the country, but its academics are not recognized at the national level. Football can help in many ways with its exposure.