Even 45 minutes before the parade was scheduled to start, the parade route was packed. Black and Gold-clad fans that went 10 deep were spread throughout Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, from Main Street USA to Frontierland, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite player. The UCF Knights had been self-proclaimed national champions for less than a week, and they were going to celebrate in style.

Regardless if you agree that the Knights deserve the distinction of national champion or not, the fact that they became the first team FBS history to go from winless to undefeated in two seasons is cause for celebration enough, and that goes double for us.

We are lucky to say that the UCF Knights are our hometown team. This season, UCF has the best college football team in the state of Florida: not Florida State, not Florida, not even Miami. We are the high school a mile and a half from Spectrum Stadium, where many Hagerty students and their families have tailgated the afternoon away. A mile and a half from the 4-year university that allows us to use their robotics lab, provides us with interns and where more Hagerty graduates attend than any other, many like their parents before them.

Not only that, but three members of the undefeated Knights have Hagerty ties, once again cementing the fact that we as a high school have indeed contributed in this historic season. Defensive backs Alex Swenson (Class of 2016) and Josh Kelly (Class of 2015) and offensive lineman Caleb Enot (Class of 2015) are all on UCF’s roster.

Idk why everyone is surprised my team worked their tails off for this

— Caleb Enot (@cenot21) January 1, 2018

“(I don’t know) why everyone is surprised,” Enot said on Twitter. “My team worked their tails off for this.”

Enot said it best. This team, those players, worked for four months, and despite the committees, hurricanes and close calls, they managed to come out on top every single time, something no other team has done in this new playoff era, national champion or otherwise. The least we can do as a fan base is join our team in celebrating this outstanding season, and if that includes parades, banners, or gubernatorial proclamations, so be it.