SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – After countless hours of practice and film study, the UCF Knights are a little more than 12 hours away from playing in the biggest game in the team's history.
The Knights are taking on the Baylor Bears in the Fiesta Bowl. Both teams are fighting for a trophy worth more than $1 million dollars.
Local 6 learned the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl trophy has its own bodyguard team.
Just the ball that sits on the top of the nearly 4 foot trophy is worth $750,000 and has more than 2100 diamonds.
Baylor and UCF will work to be the first to bring home BCS hardware to their respective schools.
Joe Rodriquez has been guarding the trophy for 7 years. "The bling factor, I guess you could say, is what sets it apart from other trophies."
Rodriquez said, "The total worth is about 1.25 million dollars about half that value is just in the ball alone that sits on top of the trophy.
That's right, the trophy is more than 1 million dollars with its own handlers. The men are local law enforcement, paid to guard it 24-7.
It's location, often top secret except for when it makes rare appearances.
The University of Central Florida will try to being it home to Orlando and add it to their trophy case, but in the meantime, "It's approximately 200 pounds so I don't think anyone is going anywhere with it real quick, but just in case we'll be here watching," said Rodriquez.
The security team says last year The University of Oregon football players passed around the $750,000