Knights taking over ESPNU
UCF alums Sean Barakett and Paul Muia have delivered the ultimate gift to Knight Nation.
They used $3,600 they earned via their “One Knight Stand UCF” podcast to win an ESPN auction. The money went to The V Foundation, which supports cancer treatment and research. And the prize was a chance to pick through ESPN’s vault of college football games and program ESPNU for 24 hours.
The super fans chose their fa- vorite UCF victories (and one very close loss). From midnight Saturday through midnight Sunday, Knight Nation’s greatest hits will be featured on ESPNU.
“I can’t believe how much it’s taken off and how excited people are about it,” Barakett said. “I guess I shouldn’t be because of everything that’s happening right now, but I’m really happy we could do this for Knight Nation. We didn’t expect it to be like this when this auction first came up, but it’s perfect.”
Barakett was listening to an ESPN radio show when he heard about ESPN experiences being auctioned off to raise funds for The V Foundation. The real estate agent working in Naples thought about the podcast money the duo had never spent and suggested to Muia, a beer distributor working in Estero, that they put in a bid to take over ESPNU.
“I was surprised he agreed right away and then I just had to wait for the end of the auction,” Barakett said.
He beat four other people trying to put in the winning bid at the last second in July 2019 by going all-in with the amount raised by the podcast audience.
The lifelong friends filled their fall with trips to UCF football games and planned an April visit to ESPN offices in Bristol, Conn., to pick the games.
“Then COVID hit and everything changed,” Barakett said.
After thinking it over, the friends figured they could pick out the games from Florida and schedule the trip to ESPN for another time.
They wanted a wide array of games, but they also wanted them to be exciting. That ruled out some meaningful defensive slugfests during the George O’Leary era. And ESPN didn’t own the rights to UCF’s win over Alabama or a thrilling matchup at Nebraska during the Daunte Culpepper era.
As a result, the series kicks off with UCF opening the Bounce House in 2007 against Texas.
The remaining games are from the 2013-14 Fiesta Bowl season and the historic run spanning the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.
Barakett is going to try to stay awake for all 24 hours, but if he has to take a nap, he is sure he’ll still be able to join Muia at about 9 a.m. for a full day of UCF football.
“With so much up in the air about football season, we’re excited that we can give Knight Nation a real college football Saturday,” he said.