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Let’s just skip the preamble. This game doesn’t need one. The Cincinnati Bearcats are visiting the undefeated UCF Knights in an American Athletic Conference showdown for the ages at Spectrum Stadium tonight.
- Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET
- Television/Stream: ABC/ESPN app. No need to find a stream this week. All you need is basic cable.
- Announcing crew: Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) and Maria Taylor (sideline reporter)
- Radio: 700 WLW AM/Sirius, XM/Internet 81
- Announcing crew: Dan Hoard (play-by-play), Jim Kelly Jr. (analyst) and Tony Pike (sideline reporter)
- Series history: The Bearcats played UCF for the first time in 2015 and won big, claiming a 52-7 triumph. They’ve paid for that win dearly since, losing the last two meetings by a combined score of 75-26.
Meaningful November football is what every program wants. The only thing more coveted is meaningful January football. The first can lead to the former and that’s just what the Cincinnati Bearcats are hoping for. UC (9-1, 5-1 AAC) has won nine of its first 10 games of the season, but none has carried the same level of prestige as this one. With a win, the Bearcats will vault to a first-place tie in the AAC East with the Knights and Temple, putting them in a great position in terms of league title game contention. With a loss, those dreams will go by the wayside. If that’s not enough reason to be hyped, then I’m not sure what to tell you.
On the other side, UCF has won 22-straight games and is fighting for respect in the College Football Playoff conversation. The Knights (9-0, 6-0 AAC) have made it this far with relative ease, save for an escape act at Memphis. UC will raise the level of difficulty, but it remains to be seen just how high. We’ll get the answer at 8 p.m. tonight.