Nov 1, 2014; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins fans cheer during the second quarter against the Arizona Wildcats at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Josh Rosen‘s (presumed) debut as UCLA‘s starting quarterback will be broadcast to a national audience. UCLA announced the kickoff times and television selections today for a few of the Bruins’ games at the beginning of the 2015 schedule, with the season opener against Virginia at the Rose Bowl slated for a 12:30 p.m. PST kickoff on FOX.
UCLA football's season opener on Sept. 5 vs. Virginia will kick off at 12:30 p.m. and be televised on FOX.
— Joey Kaufman (@joeyrkaufman) June 1, 2015
Longtime Bruin fans will remember other times that the Bruins opened their season with a midday kickoff at the Rose Bowl, but those memories aren’t exactly fond when it comes to the fan experience:
#UCLA Sept. 5th opener against UVA at 12:30 PM...get ready to sweat. Might be looking at a reprise of UCLA-Michigan heat from the early 00's
— Bruin Report Online (@BruinReport) June 1, 2015
@MichaelMHanna @RoseBowlStadium freaking miserable midday that time of the year. There was the Tenn. game yrs ago when RB ran out of water.
— Tony Siracusa (@TonyBruin) June 1, 2015
In addition to the season opener, times and television assignments were set for four other early-season UCLA football games: at UNLV on Saturday, September 12 will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. PST and be televised on the CBS Sports Network. As for the other three games:
More UCLA kickoff times:
— Joey Kaufman (@joeyrkaufman) June 1, 2015
Sept. 19 vs. BYU at 7:30 p.m. (FS1)
Oct. 15 at Stanford at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Oct. 22 vs. Cal at 6 p.m. (ESPN)
UCLA Bruins
Notably, the games at Stanford and vs. Cal will be played on consecutive Thursday evenings, with the Bruins drawing a particularly brutal 6 p.m. PST kickoff time for the game at the Rose Bowl against Cal, ensuring that the majority of Bruin fans will be ensnared in weekday rush-hour traffic when that game kicks off and a knee-jerk backlash against UCLA fans and the Pac-12 in general for its perceived lack of fan support when the nation sees scores of empty seats at the start of that game.
UCLA confirmed that the games at Arizona (September 26), home to Arizona State (October 3), and at USC (November 28) have been pre-designated for one-or-two week advance selection windows, so those game times and television assignments will not be known until 6-to-12 days before those games are played.
The full set of early-season Pac-12 TV and kickoff assignments is available here. (H/T @slmandel)