So stupid from everybody involved.
What’s the point of college athletics if not to play games like this?
UC seems to be spinning this as Miami’s decision (because we opted out of road games first), but I don’t know why we would do that with 2 games at home still to be played…
Would like to hear from Sayler on this
I’ve been saying this for the last few years. It sucks that it’s finally happening, but schools like Miami don’t have a lot of options. Bottom line is, we need the money.
Btw, I don’t think it’s the last time we’ll play UC. Just means it won’t be every year any more.
The possible way forward for this series are "neutral field " contests at Paul Brown. What I don’t know is how lucrative that would be for the schools.
All of a sudden this year’s game became even more important. If memory serves the all-time record is 61-61 with 7 ties. We need to win this year as Cincy is likely to be appreciably better in 2026.
60-60 and 7 ties
Really sad to hear this. A nearly 140 year old rivalry. Money is destroying college athletics. Or already has.
Not with a bang, but a whimper, or something like that.
this is a dumb deal for all parties. I get we need the money but this was our only rivalry I personally even cared about. because it had history and from a local standpoint mattered. there will be a point in the next ten-twenty years when the big 12 goes away and a bunch of big fish are left scrambling. the system is unsustainable financially. uc will be one of them. I hope maybe then we can pick this back up.
I’ll wait for the “ask the AD” video to find out the reason
Chad Brendel who covers UC was saying on Twitter that we (our athletic department) want to put a buy game into that slot.
He’s a UC homer, but reliable.
If so, a real shame.
Very disappointed to see this…always looked forward to the UC game! I get the brutal financial realities of being a G5 football program, but I was hoping we could somehow find a way to maintain this series. Maybe we will in some limited fashion as an occasional neutral site game.
P.S. and lost some big home crowds as UC was going to be in Yager a few times.
I’ve got lots of family that played at UC including team captains. Family events were always tons of
Oops of fun no matter the record. That’s how I found out. I’m just very sad about the whole thing. The oldest rivalry west of the Alleghenies will be done. Just plain sad.
Well that sucks. Not surprising but still sucks. And you can’t spell “sucks” without UC.
September’s matchup is a must-win game, for several reasons, but first and foremost because it’s the Victory Bell and it needs to stay here.
Sad to see the rivalry end, but this latest deal (and presumably whatever would have come after it) was aggressively not in our favor. The series was on its last legs. When the contract ends, 6 of the last 7 games will have been played in Cincinnati.
I assume this will open the door for us to play buy games against teams like Indiana and Wake Forest rather than Notre Dame and Ohio St. Should also allow us to play some fun/winnable mid major home and homes.
In a short press release, Sayler says they’ve had preliminary discussions with UC about still playing in the future. For whatever that’s worth
The contract was actually heavily in our favor at the end with 3 of the last 6 games scheduled in Oxford. That makes this all the more baffling why we would end the contract early and give up what would have been a 2-2-1 situation from 2025 to 2029. I am left scratching my head on this one and hope we get more information from Sayler.
Future Games per Contract:
2024 - Oxford
2025 - Nippert
2026 - Paul Brown
2027 - Oxford
2028 - Nippert
2029 - Oxford
Doesn’t bode well for the upcoming MAC media deal if Sayler is sacrificing the Victory Bell rivalry so we can fit a second buy game into the schedule. I hate this decision, though at least if we’re killing the series we replacing it with games near major cities like NY and Vegas.
If we’re canceling it, why are we waiting until 2026? Why not just drop it now when it’s tied?