IRVING, Texas – The American Athletic Conference has announced a number of kickoff times and television designations for the 2022 football season.
In addition to times and television assignments for the first three weeks of the 2022 season, Thursday’s announcement includes the kickoff times for The American’s Thursday and Friday prime time games on ESPN networks as well as those for all Navy home games.
The Week 1 schedule is highlighted by two key nationally televised home games on Saturday, Sept. 3, as East Carolina hosts NC State at noon ET on ESPN and South Florida welcomes BYU to Raymond James Stadium for a 4 p.m. ET start on ESPNU. CBS Sports Network will have three games involving teams from The American as Navy hosts Delaware at noon ET, Houston is at UTSA at 3:30 p.m. ET and SMU visits North Texas at 7:30 p.m. ET. ESPN will have Cincinnati’s season-opener at Arkansas (3:30 p.m. ET), while ESPNU will carry Memphis’ opener at Mississippi State (7:30 p.m. ET). Tulsa will open on the road against Wyoming on FS1 (3:30 p.m. ET).
The Week 2 lineup features three games on national television, including UCF’s home game against Louisville Friday, Sept. 9, on ESPN2. Navy will host Memphis in the first American Athletic Conference game of the season Saturday, Sept. 10, at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network, while Houston takes to the road to face Texas Tech at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.
The Week 3 ledger has five American Athletic Conference teams on national television, beginning with the annual Victory Bell matchup between Cincinnati and Miami (Ohio) on ESPNU from Paul Brown Stadium (noon ET). Houston will host Kansas at 4 p.m. ET on ESPNU, while the evening schedule has UCF at Florida Atlantic on CBS Sports Network at 7:30 p.m., SMU at Maryland at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, and South Florida at Florida at 7:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
Fourteen intraconference games from The American have already been designated for national television, beginning with the Memphis-Navy game in Week 2. The Thursday-night slate of conference games on ESPN includes Temple at UCF (Oct. 13), Tulsa at Memphis (Nov. 10) and SMU at Tulane (Nov. 17). The American’s Friday-night lineup continues with Tulane at Houston (Sept. 30), Houston at Memphis (Oct. 7, ESPN2), Navy at SMU (Oct. 14), Tulsa at Temple (Oct. 21, ESPN2), East Carolina at BYU (Oct. 28, ESPN2), East Carolina at Cincinnati (Nov. 11, ESPN2), and South Florida at Tulsa (Nov. 18, ESPN2).
The final week of the 2022 regular season will once again feature a Black Friday game on either ABC or ESPN. One of three games currently slotted for Saturday, Nov. 26 - UCF at South Florida, Tulane at Cincinnati or Tulsa at Houston, will move to Black Friday window in a selection that will be made by Oct. 4.
Navy’s conference game against Houston on Saturday, Oct. 22, will be televised at noon ET on an ESPN Network to be determined, while the Midshipmen’s other home dates against FBS opponents in Annapolis will be played at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network. Navy’s two Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy games - Oct. 1 at Air Force and Dec. 10 against Army - will both be on the CBS Television Network, as announced earlier this week, while the Midshipmen’s home game against Notre Dame will be Nov. 12 at noon ET on ABC or ESPN.
The American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game will once again air on ABC - on Dec. 3 at 4 p.m. ET, marking the eighth consecutive appearance for the game on that network. The regular season will be capped on Dec. 10 by the annual Army-Navy game, which will take its familiar time slot of 3 p.m. ET on the CBS Television Network.
Most of the remaining start times and television designations for the 2022 season will be made on a weekly basis through the season as part of the conference’s 12-day selection process. The most up-to-date schedule, with television designations, is available at TheAmerican.org.
The American continued to make history in 2021 as Cincinnati reached the College Football Playoff Semifinals and finished the year ranked No. 4 in the final national polls. It marked the sixth time in eight seasons of the College Football Playoff era that The American was represented in the New Year’s Six and the fifth top-10 finish by an American Athletic Conference team in the league’s nine seasons. Cincinnati finished the 2021 regular season as the nation’s only unbeaten team, marking the fourth time in five years that The American sent an unbeaten team into Bowl Season.
Seven teams from The American were selected for bowl games, while league teams were a combined 3-1 in postseason games that were played. The conference also had three NCAA Consensus All-America selections (Cincinnati CB Ahmad Gardner, Houston CB Marcus Jones, South Florida RB Brian Battie), trailing only the SEC and Big Ten among FBS conferences, and matched its record with 19 players chosen in the 2022 NFL Draft.
2022 American Athletic Conference Football Schedule/Television Update
| Date |
Game |
Time (ET) |
Television |
| Thursday, Sept. 1 |
South Carolina State at UCF |
7 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
|
|
|
| Friday, Sept. 2 |
Temple at Duke |
7:30 p.m. |
ACC Network |
|
|
|
|
| Saturday, Sept. 3 |
NC State at East Carolina |
Noon |
ESPN |
|
Delaware at Navy |
Noon |
CBS Sports Network |
|
Cincinnati at Arkansas |
3:30 p.m. |
ESPN |
|
Houston at UTSA |
3:30 p.m. |
CBS Sports Network |
|
Tulsa at Wyoming |
3:30 p.m. |
FS1 |
|
BYU at South Florida |
4 p.m. |
ESPNU |
|
Massachusetts at Tulane |
7 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
Memphis at Mississippi State |
7:30 p.m. |
ESPNU |
|
SMU at North Texas |
7:30 p.m. |
CBS Sports Network |
|
|
|
|
| Friday, Sept. 9 |
Louisville at UCF |
7:30 p.m. |
ESPN2 |
|
|
|
|
| Saturday, Sept. 10 |
Kennesaw State at Cincinnati |
3:30 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
Memphis at Navy |
3:30 p.m. |
CBS Sports Network |
|
Houston at Texas Tech |
4 p.m. |
FS1 |
|
Old Dominion at East Carolina |
6 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
Howard at South Florida |
7 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
Lamar at SMU |
7 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
Alcorn State at Tulane |
7 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
Northern Illinois at Tulsa |
7 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
Lafayette at Temple |
TBD |
ESPN+ |
|
|
|
|
| Saturday, Sept. 17 |
Cincinnati vs. Miami (Ohio) |
Noon |
ESPNU |
|
Tulane at Kansas State |
3 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
Kansas at Houston |
4 p.m. |
ESPNU |
|
Campbell at East Carolina |
6 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
Arkansas State at Memphis |
7 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
Jacksonville State at Tulsa |
7 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
UCF at Florida Atlantic |
7:30 p.m. |
CBS Sports Network |
|
South Florida at Florida |
7:30 p.m. |
SEC Network |
|
SMU at Maryland |
7:30 p.m. |
FS1 |
|
Rutgers at Temple |
TBD |
ESPN+ |
|
|
|
|
| Friday, Sept. 30 |
Tulane at Houston * |
7 p.m. |
ESPN |
|
|
|
|
| Saturday, Oct. 1 |
Navy at Air Force |
Noon |
CBS |
|
|
|
|
| Friday, Oct. 7 |
Houston at Memphis * |
7:30 p.m. |
ESPN2 |
|
|
|
|
| Saturday, Oct. 8 |
Tulsa at Navy * |
3:30 p.m. |
CBS Sports Network |
|
|
|
|
| Thursday, Oct. 13 |
Temple at UCF * |
7 p.m. |
ESPN |
|
|
|
|
| Friday, Oct. 14 |
Navy at SMU * |
7:30 p.m. |
ESPN |
|
|
|
|
| Friday, Oct. 21 |
Tulsa at Temple * |
7:30 p.m. |
ESPN2 |
|
|
|
|
| Saturday, Oct. 22 |
Houston at Navy * |
Noon |
ESPN Network TBD |
|
|
|
|
| Friday, Oct. 28 |
East Carolina at BYU |
8 p.m. |
ESPN2 |
|
|
|
|
| Saturday, Oct. 29 |
Temple at Navy * |
3:30 p.m. |
CBS Sports Network |
|
|
|
|
| Thursday, Nov. 10 |
Tulsa at Memphis * |
7:30 p.m. |
ESPN |
|
|
|
|
| Friday, Nov. 11 |
East Carolina at Cincinnati * |
7:30 p.m. |
ESPN2 |
|
|
|
|
| Saturday, Nov. 12 |
Notre Dame vs. Navy |
Noon |
ABC/ESPN |
|
|
|
|
| Thursday, Nov. 17 |
SMU at Tulane * |
TBD |
ESPN |
|
|
|
|
| Friday, Nov. 18 |
South Florida at Tulsa * |
9 p.m. |
ESPN2 |
|
|
|
|
| Friday, Nov. 25 |
TBD vs. TBD |
TBD |
ABC or ESPN |
|
|
|
|
| Saturday, Dec. 3 |
American Football Championship |
4 p.m. |
ABC |
|
|
|
|
| Saturday, Dec. 10 |
Navy vs. Army |
3 p.m. |
CBS |
all times Eastern