Big 12 makes field-storming decision on UCF after upset of No. 2 BYU

Thousands of UCF Knights fans poured onto the turf at the Acrisure Bounce House on Saturday after a 39-31 double-overtime win over the then-No. 2 BYU Cougars, the first victory over an AP top-five opponent in program history. In the Big 12, what that celebration costs depends on what happened around it. The conference’s standard penalty is $50,000, and the league decides each case individually after reviewing footage to see if the visiting team and the game officials had a safe path off the field.

A UCF spokesman confirmed to The Daytona Beach News-Journal on Wednesday that the Knights will not be fined, after On3’s Brett McMurphy first reported the league’s decision.

“We provided the Big 12 Conference with thorough documentation of our safety preparations, including coordinated escorts for visiting players, coaches and officials. We’re proud of our athletics staff for their planning, preparation and execution in helping protect everyone involved,” UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir told McMurphy.

Mohajir built his statement around escorts for BYU and the officiating crew, which is the question the Big 12’s review exists to answer, and around documentation, which is how a school proves its answer. UCF went into the night with a plan for the visiting sideline and came out of it with paperwork the league accepted.

BYU had been the team celebrating a week earlier, when Cougars fans stormed LaVell Edwards Stadium after a 28-24 upset of the then-No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish that snapped their 16-game winning streak. The Big 12 did not penalize BYU for that one either.

The Big 12 fined the Arizona State Sun Devils $50,000 in October 2025 after fans stormed the field following a 26-22 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders, citing a violation of the league’s event security policy. In this conference, the money changes hands when the protection fails, and the celebration itself goes unpunished.

UCF got the win vs. BYU & was not fined for its field rush. UCF AD Terry Mohajir: “We provided the Big 12 Conference w/thorough documentation of our safety preparations, including coordinated escorts for visiting players, coaches & officials. We’re proud of our athletics staff for their planning, preparation & execution in helping protect everyone involved.”

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) October 28, 2026

What the same celebration would have cost in the SEC

The SEC charges a flat $500,000 every time fans enter the competition area. Its commissioner can reduce the fine to $100,000 only if the home school proves it made a full attempt to stop the rush, few people reached the field and contact with the visiting team was minimal. The league fined the Tennessee Volunteers $500,000 after their fans rushed Neyland Stadium following a 26-10 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide on Oct. 17, with the money going to Alabama.

On the same Saturday UCF beat BYU, the South Carolina Gamecocks knocked off Tennessee and their fans stormed Williams-Brice Stadium. The SEC handed South Carolina its own $500,000 penalty, and this time the check goes to Tennessee. The Volunteers will pay half a million dollars and collect half a million dollars in consecutive weeks, while UCF produced the same kind of scene and paid nothing by handing the Big 12 a paper trail.

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