November 19, 2025 • 8 mins
Lance talks with UC AD John Cunningham about FOX's Big Noon Kickoff visiting UC's campus.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
The following takes place between seven pm and eight pm.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
All right, here we go, seven h seven seven hundred
WLW Welcome in RNL Carrier Sports Talk presented by Kelsey Chevrolet.
Two hours to get it done tonight. Man, do we
have some ground to cover between now and nine o'clock.
Let's get to it. What a weekend coming up for
UC athletics. Holy cow, let's go Friday night. You see
basketball in a showdown versus Louisville Heritage Bank Center Saturday morning,
(00:47):
Big noon kickoff live from Bearcats Common, top of the
top of the night at eight o'clock. Nip at night
football under the lights, U see versus by you. There's
women's volleyball with NCAA tournament, hopes and dreams being put
on the line and a chase down the stretch for that,
all of that under the umbrella of my first guest.
(01:07):
He's the director of athletics for the UC Bearcats. Let's
welcome in, John Gunningham. Are you ready for all this?
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I hate to be.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
I don't have a choice. So here it is. It's
gonna be. It's gonna be a great weekend.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Uh, just a lot of fun and a great time
to be a Bearcat.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Let me let me start with a basic question on
Big Noon Kickoff, and it's probably impossible with what a
dollar amount on it, but what is the exposure that
What does it mean to not just a football program,
but to the university. What's going to unfold on Saturday?
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Yeah, I mean it's really it's a combination of the
two things.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
First, we found out, you know, earlier on that we
were going to be on Big Fox at a PM,
their prime spot, and you know when you get that
prime spot on Fox, you know the numbers.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
Are gonna be huge. So there's huge exposure just in that.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
And it's nip at night. We love night games at
Nippert That's what we do best.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
So obviously really excited about that.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
And then found out later Sunday morning that they were
going to bring Big.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
New Kickoff to campus.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
We've had that once before, we had it when we
played Oklahoma a few years ago, and it's just it's
absolutely absolutely huge for our university. You cannot buy that
type of exposure. We need our fans to show up,
show out and show what we're about, that we're that
we're a big time college football program right in the
heart of Cincinnati and we love to show our campus.
(02:27):
They're going to have cameras that will follow sorees, be
a little bit in the indoor facility, you know, coaches
on all those types of things get represented in that show.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
That show starts at ten am Saturday morning, ten A
and renewed John. What are those who want to attend
those who want to are thinking about camping out? What
tell them everything they need to know about the experience.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Yeah, if you want to camp out, we're opening up TUC.
I think that's mostly maybe for our students, but maybe
there's some fans that want to do it too. So
the TUC is going to be open all night so
that that they can they can hang there and then
get early into the into the box or whatever they
call it, the little area where they're gonna have the
pin where they have all the fans that are right
up front. So that's gonna be the desired location for
(03:11):
some Right, We're thinking our students are gonna want to
be right up front, so they actually open that up
at six am.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Show starts at ten.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
But to be honest, if you want to show up
at nine p thirty, there's gonna be plenty of Faith
obviously a huge area. You may not be right up front,
so you're gonna have a great a great view of
what's going on and you get to see, you know,
that that whole show. And you know, we're talking Matt
Lighter and Brady Quinn and Urban Meyer coming back to Cincinnati,
and then Dave portnoyuh and Barstool Sports and everything that
(03:41):
he brings in the in the pizza reviews and all
that good stuff.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
So it's a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
We need our.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Bearcats there and so we're just asking for people to
show up.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Kickoff Saturday night then is at eight. It is tough
to beat Nip at night. That place pops at night,
specifically for those who are going to be there or
are thinking about it tending. I know it's sold out,
but what can you tell them about the Saturday night experience.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
You know, if you've been there at night with it's
it's where black We black that place out. You know,
it just has that different feel and it's like I
said earlier, it's the thing that we do best and
we need I mean by us a great team. We've
got to take advantage of the fact that we're playing
at night in kniffort and we need to use that
(04:28):
to push our team to victory.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
And that's just what we're going to do. So we're
going to be.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
All about making that that you know, facility, that that
stadium just unbelievable and put a lot of pressure on
the other team.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
That's that's the fun of.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
It, boy. And it's also senior night for Dante Corleone
and others a total of I think twenty two seniors
who have given their their heart and soul and sweat
to the UC football program. Be nice to honor them
as well.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Yeah, it's really a special group. I mean, obviously Dante,
you know, been with us for his whole career, through
a coaching change and through a conference change. But then
also you think of like a Gavin Gerhart, you know,
an Ohio kid, three year starter but also a three
year captain. You know, you don't hear about that that
much anymore with all the transfers that are going on,
(05:18):
But we've really done a great job of keeping a
lot of our our you know, student athletes that want
to be here and just love Cincinnati, love wearing Cincinnati
on their chest and just represent Jack Dingle is another one.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
Logan Wilson.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Those guys are just you know, great bearcats that deserve
a lot of respect from our fans, and you know,
deserve a night like Nip at Night on Big Fox.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
So I love giving that to him.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
That's all happening on Saturday. Let's back up to Friday
night because it's hoops of showdown Downtown UC versus Number
six Louisville and man, we're talking rivals and star power
and tough to beat. A November matchup that's probably gonna
have a merch vibe or certainly a tournament resume building
game for both teams.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, you're seeing these all over the place, right This
is these are these neutral site games that everybody's playing
right now.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
Dude played Kansas last night and Michigan State.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Kentucky and everybody's you're kind of going away maybe from
the Maui Invitational where you went somewhere and played three
neutrals or or you know, Bahamas or whatever. A lot
of people are doing multiple, multiple site neutral games, and
that's what we decided to do this year. So we're
playing Downtown neutral.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
You know, you get you get.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Per the net rating, you get more credit for a
home win on a neutral and less less. Uh, it
hurts you less you lose a neutral, So it's kind
of the perfect scenario to play some neutral games.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Obviously, we still had great home.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Games versus Dayton and Xavier or you know, home and
homes versus those teams. But that's what we're doing. Downtown
versus Louisville, number six in the country.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
It's gonna be a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
It's it's gonna be a great atmosphere and a really
tough opponent.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Early in the year, thirty tip off from Heritage Bank
Center on Friday night. For those listening who still are
making their plans for the weekend and saying, man, I
think I'll go to that. Still, they can get tickets
at ticketmaster dot com best option.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
That is correct, Yes, they can go there.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
I know there's some discounts as of yesterday that they
can find.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
So, yeah, make your way down to.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Heritage Bank and watch a great college basketball game on
Friday night.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And certainly, last but not lace, let's give some love
to the volleyball program, hosting two ranked opponents at Fifth
Third Arena starting tonight and then and then also on Friday.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Yeah, you know, Danielle Tomas's first year leading that program,
and it's one of the toughest conferences in the country.
The Big Ten probably has the top few teams in
the country with Nebraska and Penn State and Wisconsin the
top to bottom.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
The Big Twelve in volleyball is probably the best conference
in the country. We're right there. We're a bubble team.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Just like the NCAA tournament, it takes sixty four teams.
We're a bubble team right now, battling to get into that.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
To get into that tournament. So a couple of home
games they're gonna be huge. We're playing to night.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Versus Iowa State and another one coming up Senior Night
this weekend. So we got to support that program. If
you come to a volleyball game, I always say it,
if you come to a volleyball game at fifth Third,
I promise you you will come back. It's exciting, it's
great volleyball, and it's just a sport on the rise
and a program on the rise.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
To the Bearcats very well said what a weekend it's
gonna be enjoy. Best of luck with it and thanks
for making time tonight.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
Always appreciate you, Lance. Thank you
The following takes place between seven pm and eight pm.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
All right, here we go, seven h seven seven hundred
WLW Welcome in RNL Carrier Sports Talk presented by Kelsey Chevrolet.
Two hours to get it done tonight. Man, do we
have some ground to cover between now and nine o'clock.
Let's get to it. What a weekend coming up for
UC athletics. Holy cow, let's go Friday night. You see
basketball in a showdown versus Louisville Heritage Bank Center Saturday morning,
(00:47):
Big noon kickoff live from Bearcats Common, top of the
top of the night at eight o'clock. Nip at night
football under the lights, U see versus by you. There's
women's volleyball with NCAA tournament, hopes and dreams being put
on the line and a chase down the stretch for that,
all of that under the umbrella of my first guest.
(01:07):
He's the director of athletics for the UC Bearcats. Let's
welcome in, John Gunningham. Are you ready for all this?
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I hate to be.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
I don't have a choice. So here it is. It's
gonna be. It's gonna be a great weekend.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Uh, just a lot of fun and a great time
to be a Bearcat.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Let me let me start with a basic question on
Big Noon Kickoff, and it's probably impossible with what a
dollar amount on it, but what is the exposure that
What does it mean to not just a football program,
but to the university. What's going to unfold on Saturday?
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Yeah, I mean it's really it's a combination of the
two things.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
First, we found out, you know, earlier on that we
were going to be on Big Fox at a PM,
their prime spot, and you know when you get that
prime spot on Fox, you know the numbers.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
Are gonna be huge. So there's huge exposure just in that.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
And it's nip at night. We love night games at
Nippert That's what we do best.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
So obviously really excited about that.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
And then found out later Sunday morning that they were
going to bring Big.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
New Kickoff to campus.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
We've had that once before, we had it when we
played Oklahoma a few years ago, and it's just it's
absolutely absolutely huge for our university. You cannot buy that
type of exposure. We need our fans to show up,
show out and show what we're about, that we're that
we're a big time college football program right in the
heart of Cincinnati and we love to show our campus.
(02:27):
They're going to have cameras that will follow sorees, be
a little bit in the indoor facility, you know, coaches
on all those types of things get represented in that show.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
That show starts at ten am Saturday morning, ten A
and renewed John. What are those who want to attend
those who want to are thinking about camping out? What
tell them everything they need to know about the experience.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Yeah, if you want to camp out, we're opening up TUC.
I think that's mostly maybe for our students, but maybe
there's some fans that want to do it too. So
the TUC is going to be open all night so
that that they can they can hang there and then
get early into the into the box or whatever they
call it, the little area where they're gonna have the
pin where they have all the fans that are right
up front. So that's gonna be the desired location for
(03:11):
some Right, We're thinking our students are gonna want to
be right up front, so they actually open that up
at six am.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Show starts at ten.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
But to be honest, if you want to show up
at nine p thirty, there's gonna be plenty of Faith
obviously a huge area. You may not be right up front,
so you're gonna have a great a great view of
what's going on and you get to see, you know,
that that whole show. And you know, we're talking Matt
Lighter and Brady Quinn and Urban Meyer coming back to Cincinnati,
and then Dave portnoyuh and Barstool Sports and everything that
(03:41):
he brings in the in the pizza reviews and all
that good stuff.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
So it's a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
We need our.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Bearcats there and so we're just asking for people to
show up.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Kickoff Saturday night then is at eight. It is tough
to beat Nip at night. That place pops at night,
specifically for those who are going to be there or
are thinking about it tending. I know it's sold out,
but what can you tell them about the Saturday night experience.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
You know, if you've been there at night with it's
it's where black We black that place out. You know,
it just has that different feel and it's like I
said earlier, it's the thing that we do best and
we need I mean by us a great team. We've
got to take advantage of the fact that we're playing
at night in kniffort and we need to use that
(04:28):
to push our team to victory.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
And that's just what we're going to do. So we're
going to be.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
All about making that that you know, facility, that that
stadium just unbelievable and put a lot of pressure on
the other team.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
That's that's the fun of.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
It, boy. And it's also senior night for Dante Corleone
and others a total of I think twenty two seniors
who have given their their heart and soul and sweat
to the UC football program. Be nice to honor them
as well.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Yeah, it's really a special group. I mean, obviously Dante,
you know, been with us for his whole career, through
a coaching change and through a conference change. But then
also you think of like a Gavin Gerhart, you know,
an Ohio kid, three year starter but also a three
year captain. You know, you don't hear about that that
much anymore with all the transfers that are going on,
(05:18):
But we've really done a great job of keeping a
lot of our our you know, student athletes that want
to be here and just love Cincinnati, love wearing Cincinnati
on their chest and just represent Jack Dingle is another one.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
Logan Wilson.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Those guys are just you know, great bearcats that deserve
a lot of respect from our fans, and you know,
deserve a night like Nip at Night on Big Fox.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
So I love giving that to him.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
That's all happening on Saturday. Let's back up to Friday
night because it's hoops of showdown Downtown UC versus Number
six Louisville and man, we're talking rivals and star power
and tough to beat. A November matchup that's probably gonna
have a merch vibe or certainly a tournament resume building
game for both teams.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, you're seeing these all over the place, right This
is these are these neutral site games that everybody's playing
right now.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
Dude played Kansas last night and Michigan State.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Kentucky and everybody's you're kind of going away maybe from
the Maui Invitational where you went somewhere and played three
neutrals or or you know, Bahamas or whatever. A lot
of people are doing multiple, multiple site neutral games, and
that's what we decided to do this year. So we're
playing Downtown neutral.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
You know, you get you get.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Per the net rating, you get more credit for a
home win on a neutral and less less. Uh, it
hurts you less you lose a neutral, So it's kind
of the perfect scenario to play some neutral games.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Obviously, we still had great home.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Games versus Dayton and Xavier or you know, home and
homes versus those teams. But that's what we're doing. Downtown
versus Louisville, number six in the country.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
It's gonna be a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
It's it's gonna be a great atmosphere and a really
tough opponent.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Early in the year, thirty tip off from Heritage Bank
Center on Friday night. For those listening who still are
making their plans for the weekend and saying, man, I
think I'll go to that. Still, they can get tickets
at ticketmaster dot com best option.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
That is correct, Yes, they can go there.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
I know there's some discounts as of yesterday that they
can find.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
So, yeah, make your way down to.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Heritage Bank and watch a great college basketball game on
Friday night.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And certainly, last but not lace, let's give some love
to the volleyball program, hosting two ranked opponents at Fifth
Third Arena starting tonight and then and then also on Friday.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Yeah, you know, Danielle Tomas's first year leading that program,
and it's one of the toughest conferences in the country.
The Big Ten probably has the top few teams in
the country with Nebraska and Penn State and Wisconsin the
top to bottom.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
The Big Twelve in volleyball is probably the best conference
in the country. We're right there. We're a bubble team.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Just like the NCAA tournament, it takes sixty four teams.
We're a bubble team right now, battling to get into that.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
To get into that tournament. So a couple of home
games they're gonna be huge. We're playing to night.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Versus Iowa State and another one coming up Senior Night
this weekend. So we got to support that program. If
you come to a volleyball game, I always say it,
if you come to a volleyball game at fifth Third,
I promise you you will come back. It's exciting, it's
great volleyball, and it's just a sport on the rise
and a program on the rise.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
To the Bearcats very well said what a weekend it's
gonna be enjoy. Best of luck with it and thanks
for making time tonight.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
Always appreciate you, Lance. Thank you
Lance McAlister News
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