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Kickoff Time, TV Designation Announced for Nebraska vs. Cincinnati at Arrowhead

Nebraska football will open the 2025 campaign under the lights. The Huskers and Cincinnati Bearcats will square off at Arrowhead Stadium on Aug. 28.

Kaleb Henry

Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola (15) looks to hand off during the second half of the NCAA football game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. Ohio State won 21-17.
Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola (15) looks to hand off during the second half of the NCAA football game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. Ohio State won 21-17. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Nebraska football will open the 2025 campaign under the lights.

The Huskers and Cincinnati Bearcats will square off at Arrowhead Stadium on Aug. 28. The game will kick off at 8 p.m. CDT and be televised on ESPN.

An overall view before the AFC Championship game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Jan 26, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; An overall view before the AFC Championship game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

This will be Nebraska's first contest in the stadium since the 2006 Big 12 Championship game and NU’s first regular-season game in Kansas City since 1998. The matchup was originally scheduled as a Cincinnati home game before being moved to a neutral site. It marks just the second all-time meeting between the schools and the first since a 1906 matchup in Lincoln.

This decade has seen the Huskers open at a neutral site twice in four seasons, including the 2022 season-opener in Dublin against Northwestern. This also marks the fourth time in the past five seasons Nebraska has opened the season either in Week Zero or on a Thursday night.

Tuesday’s announcement is the first kickoff time set for the Huskers’ 2025 season. Additional game times and television designations for the upcoming season are expected to be announced by the end of May.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (13) Zac Taylor rolls out of his own end zone during the game against the Oklahoma Sooners.
Dec 2, 2006; Kansas City, MO, USA: Nebraska Cornhuskers (13) Zac Taylor rolls out of his own end zone during the game against the Oklahoma Sooners in the second quarter during the Big 12 Championship game at Arrowhead Stadium. Oklahoma won 21-7. / Bruce Thorson-Imagn Images

Nebraska is entering year three of the Matt Rhule era. The first year saw the Huskers go 5-7 while last season the Big Red went 7-6, including the first bowl appearance since 2016 and first bowl victory since 2015.

Nebraska Football 2025 Schedule

  • Aug. 28 vs. Cincinnati (Kansas City) 8 p.m. CDT on ESPN
  • Sep. 6 vs. Akron TBA
  • Sep. 13 vs. Houston Christian TBA
  • Sep. 20 vs. Michigan TBA
  • Oct. 4 vs. Michigan State TBA
  • Oct. 11 at Maryland TBA
  • Oct. 18 at Minnesota TBA
  • Oct. 25 vs. Northwestern TBA
  • Nov. 1 vs. USC TBA
  • Nov. 8 at UCLA TBA
  • Nov. 22 at Penn State TBA
  • Nov. 28 vs Iowa TBA

Home games are bolded.

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Kaleb Henry
KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

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