UCF’s Big 12 Opener at Kansas State to Air on FS1

The UCF Knights’ first-ever Big 12 conference game at Kansas State on September 23rd will be a night game at 8 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1. It is the third time in the first four weeks that the Knights will be on FS1.

The Knights have averaged 311,000 viewers over their first two games on FS1. Saturday’s win against Boise State drew 306,000 viewers, which is down from the 317,000 viewers who watched their Thursday night win over Kent State in the season opener.

Saturday’s second-ever matchup between UCF and Boise State is significantly down from the 2021 game that aired on ESPN, which drew 841,000 viewers despite a 9:45 p.m. start due to a weather delay. UCF has also not benefited so far from TV slots, as it has gone up against tough competition head to head like going against Texas-Alabama on ESPN.

UCF also has not gotten a favorable schedule compared to the other new Big 12 members making their conference debuts that week:

• BYU’s Big 12 opener at Kansas will air on ESPN.
• Cincinnati is hosting Oklahoma on Fox’s Big Noon slot.
• Houston’s Big 12 opener is this Saturday night against TCU and will air on Fox in primetime.

This trend will probably continue with the Kansas State game, as the competition it will go up against includes Ohio State at Notre Dame on NBC primetime.

It will be interesting to see what TV time slot UCF’s home opener against Baylor will get, and if that is the game where the Knights make their ESPN linear 2023 debut.

UCF’s game against Villanova this Saturday will be on ESPN+.