Cincinnati Football: Bearcats Announce 2012 Football Schedule

The Cincinnati Bearcats announced their official 2012 college football schedule on Tuesday, and it features seven home games and three Big East road trips.

With the departure of TCU to the Big 12, Cincinnati had a void to fill and was unable to get a home-and-home with a BCS school, forcing them to settle for Fordham.

Scheduling Fordham and Delaware State gives Cincinnati two FCS schools, something they certainly did not want to have to do.

Cincinnati will open the season on Sept. 6 in a Thursday night, nationally-televised game on ESPN against Pittsburgh at Nippert Stadium.

They will then begin the non-conference portion of their schedule with a game against Delaware State at home before heading into a bye week.

The big non-conference road test will follow, with Cincinnati traveling to Washington D.C. to take on Virginia Tech.

Cincinnati will then return home to take on Miami (OH) and Fordham before traveling to Toledo for the final non-conference game of the slate.

The remaining Big East games feature road contests against Louisville, Temple and Connecticut with home games against Syracuse, Rutgers and South Florida.

This may not be the schedule that Cincinnati had envisioned a year ago, but it is favorable with seven games at home and only three Big East road games.

With the Big East champion earning an automatic BCS berth, winning the conference is still the No. 1 priority, and it all starts with the season opener against Pittsburgh.