Bearcats Football: UC v. Central Florida Will Kick Off At Noon On ESPNews

The Cincinnati Bearcats’ first ever football game against the Central Florida Knights on Halloween will kick off at noon and air on ESPNews.

Oddly enough, this is UC’s first nooner of 2015, the 8th game into the season. The Bearcats have been blessed with kicking off in the evening twice and the afternoon once thus far. They’ll also get the UConn game started at 4:30 this coming Saturday. So the schedulers have been kind to Cincinnati this season. Playing on week nights, like they have for the last three games, helps as well but, still, you would think the networks would put Alabama A&M or Miami (OH) at noon but they haven’t.

It’s allowed tailgaters ample time to head to Clifton, get set up on The Grid, appropriately buzzed, and make their way to the game. Nooners are a bit more complicated, especially for students who have a hard enough time rolling out of bed before 12 pm as it is. Tailgaters best load up on pancake mix, eggs, coffee, and mimosa ingredients for this game.

I will say I’m disappointed to see the Bearcats and Knights not hook up in the afternoon or evening on a major channel. ESPNews is fine but it’s no ESPN or ESPN2, obviously, which is a slotting we were anticipating before the season began considering we had pegged this contest as having AAC or Access Bowl implications on the line.

Now we’re looking a pair of teams who will be a combined 5-10, at best, when they face each other next Saturday. My how things change in a couple short months.