14-05-2025
Cincinnati Bearcats football will kick off season Aug. 28 on ESPN at 9 p.m. with Nebraska
The Cincinnati Bearcats football team finally has a kickoff time for the season opener against Nebraska Aug. 28 at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
It was announced Tuesday, May 13 that the Bearcats and Cornhuskers will kick off at 9 p.m. (Eastern) with the Thursday night primetime showdown televised on ESPN.
GEHA Field at Arrowhead is the home of the four-time Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs and Bearcat great Travis Kelce. Current UC tight end Joe Royer surpassed Kelce's single-season reception record for tight ends last season with 50 catches.
Helicopters fly over during the National Anthem before the first quarter of the NFL Week 2 game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. The Cincinnati Bearcats will host Nebraska on the field Aug. 28 to start their 2025 season.
Cincinnati Bearcats will be home team in Kansas City
The Bearcats will serve as the designated home team for the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, and UC will still play seven home games inside Nippert Stadium in 2025, including welcoming five conference opponents: Arizona, BYU, Baylor, Iowa State and UCF.
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As The Enquirer reported last fall, UC was approached by the Arrowhead group and was essentially able to double its money by moving the game to Kansas City, while getting 75% of each ticket sold. The home of the Chiefs since 1972, Arrowhead's football capacity is 76,416.
The game evolved from Nippert Stadium to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to Arrowhead.
"We weren't looking to move it, didn't want to move it from Indy but got a cold call from Arrowhead and a group that was looking to put a game together," UC AD John Cunningham said last November. "We didn't know if they could get us to where we needed to go financially, but they did. We feel like we can get close to doubling our revenues. In this day and age, business decisions have to be made and this was one we needed to make."
The Cincinnati Bearcats and Nebraska Cornhuskers kick off Thursday, Aug. 28 at 9 p.m. (Eastern) at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. UC will serve as the home team and will still have seven home dates in Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium.
UC, Nebraska last met nearly 119 years ago
This will mark the second meeting between UC and Nebraska. The Cornhuskers defeated the Bearcats, 41-0, on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 29, 1906.
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Nebraska was 7-6 last season, winning the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl in Yankee Stadium 20-15 over Boston College. They shared one common opponent with UC as both teams played Colorado. Nebraska beat the Buffaloes 28-10 in Lincoln last Sept. 7. UC lost in Boulder, 34-23 later in the season on Oct. 26.
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule reacts during the second half of his team's game against Boston College during the 2024 Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. Rhule was 7-6 last year as the Cornhuskers won the bowl game. He is 12-13 overall in two seasons at Nebraska. The Cornhuskers play Cincinnati Aug. 28 in Kansas City at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Nebraska's Matt Rhule stirs pot
Rhule is 12-13 at Nebraska in two seasons after going 11-27 with the Carolina Panthers between 2020-2022. Before that he was 19-20 at Baylor and Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2019. Prior to Baylor, he was 28-23 at Temple from 2013-2016.
At a recent Nebraska press conference, he ruffled some Big 12 feathers when comparing play in the Big Ten and SEC:
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'There are lots of kids I would love to recruit that have committed to a Big 12 school or somewhere else like that, come to camp,' Rhule said. 'If you want to play in the Big 12 over the Big Ten, I got it, but make no mistake, there's a big difference.
"The Big 12 is gonna go nuts now, I know that. I'm gonna be on X and all that stuff, but it's the reality. The Big Ten and the SEC, especially moving forward, are going to be here [higher] than everyone else.'
UC's Bearcats will have a chance to change Rhule's mind in about three months. Tickets for the UC/Nebraska game are available at
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bearcats kick off on ESPN vs. Nebraska at 9 p.m. Aug. 28
