The Cincinnati Bearcats from the University of Cincinnati and the Ohio State Buckeyes from The Ohio State University played the first college football game at Paul Brown Stadium on September 21 , 2002 , before a sold-out crowd of 66,319 . On September 5 , 2009 , the Kentucky Wildcats and the Miami Redhawks played their opening games there . The University of Cincinnati also played Oklahoma in 2010 at Paul Brown Stadium . The Sooners won the game 31-29 with 58,253 fans in attendance . In 2011 the Bearcats played Big East Conference opponents Louisville Cardinals and West Virginia Mountaineers at the Stadium . The Bearcats returned to Paul Brown Stadium for the 2014 football season due to the renovations of Nippert Stadium , with the largest attendance being Miami ( OH ) at 41,926 . The average attendance was 28,840 for the year . On September 8 , 2018 , Miami ( OH ) hosted the Bearcats at Paul Brown Stadium for their annual Victory Bell rivalry , which will also feature games at PBS in 2022 and 2026
Big East Conference
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Paul Brown Stadium