You could see how special of a pregame show that Big Noon Kickoff was immediately after arriving on campus on Saturday. The atmosphere was like no other, as free breakfast was being handed out, students and fans all gathered to talk Bearcats football and other conversations. It was one of those moments where you found yourself not only making memories as a student or fan, but also memories you will cherish a lifetime, those conversations you may have had with people you haven’t met prior or won’t see again. Those memories and atmospheres are what make students and fans will cherish forever and can talk about later in life.
The Bearcats waited for years to come to officially have their seat at the “Power 5” table. and man did it all come full circle this weekend as fans gathered all across the 57-acre campus. Fox Big Noon host, and former NFL running back Mark Ingram even took time to embrace the Bearcats crowd that came out, where he did his infamous crowd surf, and even had a little fun with the Bearcat on the big stage in a 1-1 battle, which resulted in the Bearcat mascot getting bulldozed by the two-time pro bowler.
The fans came out and showed their support, I mean it was hundreds of Bearcat fans, just out enjoying the pregame festivities and making the memories with people they may or may not ever see again. However, the one thing they will remember though, is their location for the Bearcats first ever game in the Big 12. Many college students always reflect on some memories they had throughout their time in college, however, Saturday was one of those days as the people who made it out to Big Noon Kickoff will be able to tell that story for years to come after the show’s first appearance ever at the University of Cincinnati.
The energy was like no other and we saw that postgame after walking through the stands back to the press box, seeing hundreds of Cincy Light cans littered through Nippert Stadium, the Bearcat faithful knew they were doing it all in support of the student athletes. According to a recent tweet from the Enquirers, Jason Williams, the University of Cincinnati estimated close to 12,000 cans of Cincy light were sold at a recent home game. If you had to ask me, I would say the rutkus definitely broke that record on Saturday as the Bearcats took on Oklahoma in their Big 12 debut.
For those who don’t know, there is a certain percentage of profit from each sale of Cincy Light that goes back to the University of Cincinnati’s NIL Collective Cincy Reigns to help out student athletes in the NIL landscape. However, fans certainly continued to do their part in the process in supporting the Cincinnati NIL collective, as J.T. Smith and I can both say, we saw hundreds of Cincy Light cans littered across the stands of Nippert Stadium following the Bearcats 20-6 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday.
However, for the Bearcats they will need that support all season long as Scott Satterfield gave a huge praise to the Bearcats fans that came out and supported the Bearcats during their first ever Big 12 game. “First of all, I want to say what an incredible atmosphere we had on Saturday. The fans were awesome. Anytime Oklahoma was backed up, that was the loudest I have heard any stadium. It was incredible, we have to continue to have that all year,” said Scott Satterfield at his weekly press conference.
