The University of Cincinnati announced Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with Michigan to play each other in football and basketball games in the future.
The Bearcats will travel to Ann Arbor on Sept. 9, 2017 for the first-ever meeting between the schools in football, while the basketball teams will play a home-and-home series between the 2015-16 and 2018-19 seasons.
“It is ideally our preference to sign home and home non-conference games,” said UC athletic director Whit Babcock. “However, the chance for our fans to have a relatively short drive to see us play a great opponent, plus the men’s basketball scheduling component above and beyond the single football game in Ann Arbor, made it a good one-off decision for us. I want to thank Deputy Director of Athletics Bob Arkeilpane for his creativity in getting this deal done from our side and to thank Michigan’s Dave Brandon and his administrative team for their collaboration. We will continue to look at the best scheduling opportunities for UC moving forward and for the chance to promote the Bearcats on a national stage.”
UC will receive a payout of $1.2 million for the one-time football game.
The Bearcats begin the 2013 football season against Big Ten opponents Purdue at Nippert Stadium on Aug. 31 and at Illinois on Sept. 7. UC will open the 2016 season at Purdue as well as play games at Ohio State in 2014 and 2018.
UC and Michigan have played four times in basketball, with Michigan holding a 3-1 advantage. They last met in the Final Four national semifinals in 1992.
