Kickoff time, TV coverage announced for Arizona’s Big 12 home opener vs. Cincinnati

Arizona fans planning to attend Family Weekend or watch from home now know when the Wildcats will begin Big 12 play in Tucson. Arizona’s home opener against Cincinnati is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, at Casino Del Sol Stadium, with the game carried nationally by FOX. The late start will shape everything from pregame plans to traffic around the stadium, while giving Tucson viewers a nationally televised look at the Wildcats’ first Big 12 home game of the season.

The matchup will be Arizona’s fourth nationally televised game in 2026. Tickets are already available, according to the university. The 8 p.m. kickoff is the Wildcats’ latest scheduled start since they played Houston at 8:15 p.m. in 2024. For supporters attending in person, the evening setting will also mark Cincinnati’s first trip to Tucson, adding a new visiting team and a new conference opponent to the home schedule.

Arizona and Cincinnati are not meeting for the first time. The Wildcats won at Cincinnati last season, an upset that also became a landmark night for quarterback Noah Fifita. During that game, Fifita threw the touchdown pass that made him Arizona’s career leader in passing touchdowns. The upcoming meeting will therefore bring together two programs with a recent history, even as the Bearcats make their first appearance in front of a Tucson crowd.

Cincinnati enters the season’s early stretch with a 3-0 record. The Bearcats have defeated Boston College, Western Carolina and Miami of Ohio. Before traveling to Arizona, Cincinnati will open its Big 12 schedule at home against Kansas State at 4 p.m. Saturday, with that game scheduled for ESPN2. The result of that conference opener will provide the first indication of how the Bearcats measure up in league play before they arrive in Tucson.

Arizona, meanwhile, is 2-1 and has one more game to play before returning home. The Wildcats are scheduled to visit Washington State at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Pullman, with CBS carrying the game nationally. Wildcats Radio 1290 AM will also broadcast the contest, with Brian Jeffries handling play by play alongside analyst Lamont Lovett and reporter Mackenzie Hamilton. Arizona’s game against Cincinnati follows that road trip and will begin a new chapter of the season in front of its home fans.

The Washington State game also connects Arizona to its former Pac 12 past. The schools last played in 2023, when Arizona won 44-6 in Pullman. That victory was Fifita’s first as the Wildcats’ starting quarterback. Arizona leads the overall series 28-19 across 47 meetings dating to 1963, and holds a 12-7 advantage in games played in Pullman. Arizona associate head coach and defensive line coach Joe Salave’a also spent five seasons coaching at Washington State under Mike Leach, from 2012 through 2016.

Arizona’s current momentum has been driven in large part by Fifita. In the Wildcats’ most recent game, a 42-17 victory over Northern Illinois, he passed for 325 yards and was responsible for five touchdowns. He completed 31 of 34 attempts, setting Arizona’s single game completion percentage record for a game with at least 30 completions. The performance also moved him past Nick Foles’ long standing school record of 10,011 career passing yards. Fifita now has 10,017 yards and 80 career touchdown passes, both program records.

The Northern Illinois win also showed why Arizona enters its home opener with confidence on both sides of the ball. The Wildcats overcame a 10-0 deficit by scoring 42 consecutive points. Four different Arizona players caught touchdown passes, while Isaiah Mizell and Tyler Powell recorded their first career touchdown receptions. Tré Spivey finished with six catches for 90 yards and a touchdown, setting career highs in both receiving categories. Caleb Smith added a 69-yard punt return for a score, Arizona’s longest punt return touchdown since 2015.

There are other statistical signs of improvement that will be tested against Cincinnati and the rest of the Big 12. Arizona has scored touchdowns on nine of its 11 red zone trips, an 81.8 percent rate that ranks among the better marks in the Football Bowl Subdivision and represents a major increase from last season’s 54.4 percent rate. The offense has converted 60 percent of its third downs, while the defense has allowed an average of 75.7 rushing yards through its first two games. Head coach Brent Brennan is in his third season, and Arizona returns Brennan, offensive coordinator Seth Doege, defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales and its starting quarterback from last season’s 9-4 team.

For Tucson fans, the sequence offers two distinct chances to follow the Wildcats on national television before and during the conference schedule. Arizona first must handle Washington State on the road, then will return to Casino Del Sol Stadium for an 8 p.m. Family Weekend meeting with Cincinnati. The Bearcats’ undefeated start, the Wildcats’ home field, and the continuing record chase of Fifita will give the Oct. 3 game significance beyond its place as Arizona’s Big 12 home opener.