Dec. 7, 2025, 1:46 p.m. CT
Cincinnati football and Navy will meet in the 67th AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Jan. 2, 2026 at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.
It’ll be the sixth meeting between the two teams, with Cincinnati taking the last meeting on Nov. 5, 2022. The all-time series is tied at 3-3, but the Bearcats have taken each of the last three games.
Cincinnati (7-5, 5-4 Big 12) is making its second appearance in the Liberty Bowl, its last coming in a 2011 win over Vanderbilt. The regular season ended in disappointment for the Bearcats, who fell from their No. 17 national ranking to 10th in conference after four straight losses. The Bearcats did have a strong win over then-ranked Iowa State on Oct. 4.
Navy (9-2) had another strong season, but narrowly missed out on the American Conference championship game. The Midshipmen have won their last two games entering its annual game vs. Army on Dec. 13.
Tickets for the AutoZone Liberty Bowl can be purchased on StubHub.
The game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. CT and air on ESPN.
This is the first time in recent history that the bowl game will be played in January (the fourth time on Jan. 2), and will be part of an ESPN tripleheader concluding the season’s non-College Football Playoff bowl games, joining the Armed Forces Bowl and Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Last season’s edition of the Liberty Bowl featured Arkansas beating Texas Tech 39-26.
Wendell Shepherd Jr. is The Commercial Appeal’s high school sports beat writer. Reach Wendell at wendell.shepherd@commercialappeal.com or on X @wendellsjr_.
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