UCLA Football 2022 Kickoff Times Announced, Two Nonconference Games Before Noon
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Any fans planning to catch the Bruins' nonconference games at the Rose Bowl this fall may have to set their alarms extra early.
The Pac-12 announced kickoff times for the first three weeks of the 2022 college football season on Thursday, as well as start times for several other nationally televised games during the conference season. UCLA football had five of its 12 kickoff times revealed, and now the Bruins' first four home games of the year are fully etched into the schedule.
UCLA will face Bowling Green on Sept. 3, with that game set to kick off at 11:30 a.m. On Sept. 10, UCLA will host Alabama State at 2 p.m., and they will close out the nonconference slate with a Sept. 17 matchup against South Alabama at 11 a.m.
All three games will be played at the Rose Bowl and broadcast on Pac-12 Networks. Not only are the Bruins without a Power Five opponent on the slate to start the year, but they also won't be playing on national television or in primetime at all during the nonconference season.
The two morning games also mark somewhat new territory for UCLA, resembling the last-second 9 a.m. Sunday kickoff against Cal in the COVID-warped 2020 season more than the average year-to-year schedule. The Bruins nearly set a record-low attendance figure when they hosted Hawaii at 12:30 p.m. to open the 2021 campaign, and the timing, quality of opponent and weather could put them at risk of doing so again early in 2022.
Average daily high temperatures in Pasadena in early September range from 83 to 87 degrees, but can also climb into the 90s from time to time. The late morning kickoffs all but guarantee fans to be without shade or cover for almost the entirety of the three games, a deterrent some fans have highlighted in the past.
UCLA had its Friday night home game against Washington receive a kickoff time as well, with that showdown set to begin at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 30. The Bruins will not play a Power Five opponent in the Rose Bowl on a Saturday until Oct. 8 against fellow Pac-12 South contender Utah.
The regular season finale between UCLA and Cal in Berkeley also had a kickoff time booked, and that game will start at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 25, or Black Friday.
The Bruins did not play a single game on a Thursday or Friday during the 2021 season, but they have two Friday games on the slate for 2022. The Washington game will be carried by ESPN, while FOX has the rights to the Cal game.
UCLA will go to Colorado on Sept. 24, host Utah on Oct. 8, go to Oregon on Oct. 22, host Stanford on Oct. 29, go to Arizona State on Nov. 5, host Arizona on Nov. 12 and host USC on Nov. 19, but those games will not have kickoff times decided until the fall.
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