Memphis football to play on Thanksgiving for 2nd straight year. Why Tigers will host Navy

Move those Thanksgiving plans up a few hours, Memphis football fans.

The Tigers will host Navy on Thanksgiving Day at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, the AAC announced Monday. That game had been slated for either Thanksgiving or the day after.

It’s the second straight year Memphis will play in a showcase game on Thanksgiving Day. The Tigers closed out their 2024 regular season with a win over Tulane in New Orleans.

The AAC helped ESPN fill the slot that had usually been filled by the Egg Bowl between Ole Miss and Mississippi State. That game — which had typically been played on Thanksgiving — was moved to Friday last year and is slated for Saturday this season. While both those schools have said the date could change, Monday’s announcement makes it unlikely it’ll take place on Thanksgiving.

Because the game gets significant attention (it was the only FBS game of the day and drew the highest viewership number for a conference game all season), the AAC is incentivized to put its best matchup in the slot.

“It’s a terrific television window on a day where everyone is watching football together,” AAC commissioner Tim Pernetti said before last year’s game. “It’s become sort of the fabric of Thanksgiving for 100 years where football is a component of the day.”

Instead of booking a Memphis-Tulane rematch (which will happen on Nov. 7), the conference chose to go with the Tigers against the Midshipmen in the Thanksgiving slot. That game will have plenty of intrigue because Navy beat Memphis in Annapolis last season and returns star quarterback Blake Horvath. It could also have AAC title implications during the last week of the regular season.

The game time and TV information will be announced at a later date. Last year’s game kicked off in the evening, and it’s likely that’ll happen again.

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/memphis-football-play-thanksgiving-2nd-210512046.html

Author : The Commercial Appeal

Publish date : 2025-03-03 21:05:00

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