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ORLANDO - UCF may not have won the Conference USA title, but the likely consolation prize is pretty nice: a trip to the Dec.24 Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu.
The Golden Knights have never been to a bowl, not even when star quarterback Daunte Culpepper was a senior in 1998 and UCF finished 9-2 as a Division I-A independent. That year the team was offered a conditional bid to the O'ahu Bowl only to see it snatched away and given to UCLA four days later.
This time, a bowl invitation is a certainty. Bowls with C-USA ties include the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala., and the New Orleans Bowl (this year to be played in Lafayette, La.), but UCF is expected to receive a formal invitation to Hawaii when the bowl lineups are finalized today.
"It's a heck of a reward for a team that (was 0-11) last year," coach George O'Leary said.
SPEAKING OF WHICH: A victory in Hawaii, or wherever, would give UCF nine and the most dramatic turnaround in I-A history. The record belongs to Hawaii, which had an 81/2-game swing in 1999 (going from 0-12 to 9-4). Stanford's 1940 squad is the only other team to post an eight-game improvement.
IN APPRECIATION: UCF's accomplishments were not lost on the record crowd of 51,925, the largest home attendance in school history (beating the 50,220 who came to the Virginia Tech game in 2000). About half the fans remained after the game, giving players a standing ovation and chanting "U-C-F" as the players filed off the field.
SUPER FROSH: UCF's freshman class, which has been a major factor in the Golden Knights' turnaround, came through again. Freshman tailback Kevin Smith had his fourth 100-yard game, finishing with 15 carries for 108 yards. Fellow 2005 signee Joe Burnett returned his second punt for a touchdown in as many games, a 68-yarder in the second quarter. He had a 58-yard return for a touchdown in the Nov.19 victory over Rice.
TOP DOGS: Tulsa tight end Garrett Mills , a senior All-America candidate and game MVP, set an NCAA record for single-season receiving yards by a tight end. He has 1,164, beating Chris Smith of BYU (1,156 yards, 1990). ... Senior UCF defensive end Paul Carrington recorded two sacks, bringing his season total to nine, No.1 in the conference.
ABOUT THAT NICKNAME: One would think geography would dictate that Tulsa be called the Golden Tornado, not the Golden Hurricane. That was the plan when the team picked a new name in 1922. Unfortunately for Tulsa, at the time Georgia Tech was calling itself the Golden Tornado. So - evidently disregarding the absence of oceanfront property in Oklahoma - the school chose the nickname that was the closest, meteorologically speaking.