:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/61929843/1037764582.jpg.0.jpg)
It’s the weekend before Halloween and both the Cincinnati Bearcats and SMU Mustangs are hoping to go trick or treating as a winning football team, as they will meet up in Dallas for an American Athletic Conference battle today.
- Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET
- Television/Stream: CBS Sports Network (Here’s a handy guide to what services you can find ESPN and other channels on if you don’t have cable. Shout out to Red Cup Rebellion)
- Announcing crew: Dave Ryan (play-by-play) and Corey Chavous (analyst)
- Radio: 700 WLW AM/Sirius 133/XM 201/Internet 967
- Announcing crew: Dan Hoard (play-by-play), Jim Kelly Jr. (analyst) and Tony Pike (sideline reporter)
- Series history: It took overtime, but SMU beat Cincinnati 31-28 when these two teams met a year ago. The Bearcats won the only other two prior meetings.
Cincinnati doesn’t actually need to win on Saturday to be a winning team for Halloween. At 6-1 overall and 2-1 in AAC play, the Bearcats have already sewn up a bowl bid and are now just on the hunt for further glory. However, they dropped their last game, surrendering a 17-10 lead en route to a 24-17 loss at Temple last weekend. With the AAC East division still hotly contested, every game is a must-win if UC wants to challenge for that league title.
As for SMU, a win on Saturday will bring them to .500 for the first time this season. The Mustangs are currently 3-4 overall, but they have the same conference mark as the Bearcats (2-1). They are second in the AAC’s West division, trailing in-state rival Houston, so they are also in must-win mode.