Head coach Luke Fickell told his players to be there at 7:30 in the morning.
Back in August, when the University of Cincinnati broke a pandemic impacted training camp in Higher Ground, Indiana, the Bearcats head coach gave his players an ultimatum.
Either they could opt out of the season, or they could show up at 7:30 the next day to compete for a championship.
They showed up.
On Saturday, No. 9 UC capped a perfect season, beating No. 23 Tulsa, 27-24, at Nippert Stadium to win the 2020 American Athletic Conference championship game. And a season that initially looked like it might not happen ended with the school’s first AAC championship game win in program history.