Throughout the week, the Tigers of Memphis have called this matchup hosting the AP’s 10th ranked UCF Knights a rivalry game. From their perspective, it holds some merit. In 2017, they were dominated at Orlando’s Spectrum Stadium in Week 5. After spending the rest of the regular season clawing back to the top of the West division of the American Athletic Conference, they fell in Orlando again in overtime during the conference championship game.

When the Knights came to town for their 2018 battle, the Tigers certainly didn’t expect themselves to be a two-loss team. Revenge was still on the minds of all Memphis fans. When the question was posed to UCF players and their head coach, Josh Heupel, everyone was on the company line that Knights vs. Tigers was not a rivalry game. When the halftime score read 30-17 in favor of the blue team, perhaps Heupel and company were mistaken in their assessment.

What a game inside the Liberty Bowl. @UCF_Football holds Memphis scoreless in the second half and remain undefeated with a 31-30 victory. #AmericanFB pic.twitter.com/m0e9GTVBPJ — American Football (@American_FB) October 13, 2018

While UCF limped away from this battle with a nail-biting 31-30 victory, the Knights will still be impacted by this contest. From the perspective of fans in black and gold who were complaining how the USF Bulls struggled against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane Friday night, so much had changed. How dare their “actual” rivals ruin the Knights’ strength of schedule for their Black Friday battle to close out the regular season? As UCF continues to battle for national respect, the College Football Playoff’s major players and pundits all over the country now have an official 2018 “gotcha” to hold them back.

Last year, it was Hurricane Irma forcing the Knights to play Austin Peay out of the FCS instead of the ACC’s Georgia Tech. This year it will be an outing where they struggled against a Tiger squad with two losses when they played in October (after all, Memphis plays a tough Houston team on Black Friday — they may lose again). Fair or not, no one in the College Football Playoff Selection Committee will care that UCF was on the road in a conference championship rematch in the rain. . . but their fans will. And their fans will remember — fair or not — how a set of blue and white bengal stripes . . . number 19 on their streak of wins (should the Knight complete 2018 undefeated) was what kept them out of the CFP.

When the Tigers and Knights take the field to oppose each other again, both of them in some fashion will be seeking revenge. How else would one better describe a rivalry?

Kyle Nash, known as The Student of the Game, covers UCF Football for SportsMediaPass.com and is a special contributor for Break the Fourth. He’s a also a writer for the DolphinsWire of USA Today and co-host of the DinnerTime and Default Assault podcasts.