Cincinnati Bearcats Announce Home-And-Home Series With Boise State
By Chris Bains
Nov 30, 2013; Boise, ID, USA; Boise State Broncos take the field just before kickoff against the New Mexico Lobos at Bronco Stadium. Boise State defeated New Mexico 45-17. Mandatory Credit: Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports
The Cincinnati Bearcats have added the Boise State Broncos to their football schedule. UC will travel to Boise, Idaho on September 21, 2019 and the BSU will return the favor on September 26th, 2020. With the new opponent, here is how Cincinnati’s non-conference schedule shakes out for both seasons:
2019:
- September 7: @ Ohio State
- September 14: @ Miami (OH)
- September 21: @ Boise State
2020:
- September 12: @ Nebraska
- September 19: Miami (OH)
- September 26: Boise State
- TBA: @ Ohio
The first thing that should jump out at you is the imbalance in the 2019 schedule. If everything holds, the Bearcats will be road warriors that season. But I doubt it will. The annual matchup with Miami (OH) is, unfortunately, untouchable as is this new series with Boise State. But I could easily see Whit Babcock moving Ohio State back to 2021 or the Buckeyes buying out the game all together. UC and Ohio State moved that matchup once before so what’s saying they won’t do so a second time?
One creative solution would be convince OSU to move the game to Paul Brown Stadium. It would certainly help the Buckeyes’ recruiting efforts in the Cincinnati area and give UC a pseudo-home neutral site game. Who knows what will happen but one thing’s for sure Ohio State v. Cincinnati in 2019 probably isn’t happening.
But back to this latest scheduling news, I’m pretty excited about the prospect of playing Boise State. Sure the game will lose some of its luster with Chris Petersen gone to Washington but the Broncos are an established program who will compete for conference championships in the future even without him on the sidelines. These will not be easy games for Cincinnati and should help their strength of schedule. Plus I’ve always wanted to see UC play on the smurf turf.
The full press release from the University of Cincinnati is below:
"CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati football team will play a home-and-home series against Boise State University, Director of Athletics Whit Babcock announced Thursday.The teams will face off in Boise, Idaho on Sept. 21, 2019 and in Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium on Sept. 26, 2020. The two teams have been among the most successful in college football since 2007, winning a combined 145 games over the past seven seasons.The Bearcats and Broncos have never met on the field, but UC has played a game in Idaho. UC defeated Utah State 35-19 in the inaugural Humanitarian Bowl, now called the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Dec. 29, 1997.Boise State is the most recent marquee opponent UC has added to its future schedules list which also includes a home-and-home series with Nebraska in 2020 & 2025.Over the next five seasons UC’s schedule will feature contests at Ohio State and at Miami [FL] in 2014, at BYU and home vs. Miami [FL] in 2015, home vs. BYU and at Purdue in 2016 and at Michigan in 2017.Further future scheduling opportunities will be announced as arrangements are completed.For more information about the Nippert Stadium Renovation and Expansion Project or to learn about premium seating opportunities for the 2015 football season, please call 877-55-UCATS (877-558-2287) or visit www.gobearcats.com/nippert."