ORLANDO — The Big 12 Conference announced its Week 4 kickoff times Sept. 8, including UCF’s highly anticipated home date against Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels.
The Knights (2-0) will welcome the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach and his squad to the Acrisure Bounce House for a 3:30 p.m. start on Sept. 20. Fox will televise the game nationally.
It’s a familiar start time for UCF. Since joining the Big 12 two years ago, the Knights have played seven of their nine home games against Power Four opponents in the mid-afternoon broadcast window (3:30 or 4 p.m.). The lone exceptions occurred on consecutive Thanksgiving weekends — a noon matchup with Houston in 2023 and a Black Friday prime-time bout with Utah in ’24.
Fox could announce its location for its pregame show “Big Noon Kickoff” as early as Sept. 14, though the odds-on favorite appears to be a top-25 showdown between Texas Tech and Utah in Salt Lake City. However, given this is Fox’s only opportunity to showcase Belichick on its network, those plans could shift if either of the aforementioned ranked teams loses this upcoming weekend.
ESPN extended its media rights agreement with the Atlantic Coast Conference in January through the 2036 season.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF football: Big 12 announces kickoff time, TV channel for North Carolina matchup
Reporting by Chris Boyle, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
