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Cincinnati has not played a down in the American Conference since 2022, but the school still finds ways to help its old league.
Cincinnati’s remarkable upset of #8 Texas Tech likely helped the American land another coveted spot on ABC. ESPN listed its noon ABC time slot as undetermined between Arizona-Texas Tech and Notre Dame-Navy. After Saturday’s results, the network would designate one game for the ABC noon slot, with the other airing at the same time on ESPN.
ABC would have been hard-pressed to pass on a game featuring an undefeated Texas Tech squad and a one-loss Arizona team. Last year, Texas Tech received the rare honor of booting an SEC game from an ABC slot when it hosted BYU for a noon kickoff. The Red Raiders have the national reputation and played on ABC twice last year.
Texas Tech’s loss to 4-2 Cincinnati makes moving the game to ESPN easier to defend. The Red Raiders will host Arizona at noon on ESPN on Halloween, while Notre Dame-Navy takes the ABC slot.
ABC made the “safe” choice and opted to air Notre Dame-Navy. Even if Texas Tech won, ABC would have still had to ask a large chunk of the target audience, Arizona fans, to wake up at 9 AM to watch their team play. Notre Dame-Navy has national appeal without the early-morning demands.
The decision marks the 33rd consecutive game in the series to air on ABC, CBS, or NBC. This noon slot is crucial for the American’s national reputation. The conference lacks the robust over-the-air television presence that its peers the PAC-12 and Mountain West have. The Notre Dame-Navy game would be one of just four over-the-air TV slots the American would have all season.
Still, despite the opportunity, Notre Dame-Navy must deliver to be more stable footing with its ABC slot. In 2024, the game drew 2.97 viewers, not bad by American Conference standards, but one of ABC’s least-viewed games. Nonetheless, the storied rivalry gets another go on ESPN thanks to help from one of Navy’s old conference friends.
