Ohio State Marching Band to Perform at Halftime of Bengals vs. Steelers on Sunday Night Football

The Ohio State University Marching Band is taking its show to the NFL's biggest weekly stage. The band will perform at halftime when the Cincinnati Bengals host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football at Paycor Stadium.

The Bengals list the band in their official gameday entertainment lineup (opens in a new tab) for the Week 10 game, alongside national anthem singer Michael Preacely and the Miami University Joint ROTC.

When and where to watch

Kickoff is set for 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 15, in Cincinnati. NBC has the national broadcast, with Mike Tirico on play-by-play and Cris Collinsworth as the analyst, and the game streams on Peacock and NFL+, according to the Bengals (opens in a new tab). In the Cincinnati market, the game airs on WLWT. Stadium gates open at 6:30 p.m.

A national prime time audience means a lot of football fans who have never seen the band live will get a look at one of the most recognizable college marching bands in the country, in the middle of an AFC North rivalry game.

A busy weekend for TBDBITL

The trip to Cincinnati comes at the end of a full weekend. The band is scheduled to perform at Ohio Stadium on Saturday when Ohio State hosts Northwestern at noon, according to the band's official events calendar. That leaves roughly a day and a half to get from Columbus to Cincinnati and ready for a prime time show.

The band, known to Buckeyes fans as TBDBITL, short for The Best Damn Band in the Land, is an all brass and percussion ensemble best known for Script Ohio, the formation that spells out the state's name in cursive across the field before it is dotted by a sousaphone player.

Its schedule stays full after Sunday. The band's calendar shows its annual Hometown Concert at Mershon Auditorium on Friday, Nov. 20, before it returns to Ohio Stadium for the Michigan game on Saturday, Nov. 28.

An Ohio crowd for an Ohio band

Cincinnati is a natural fit. The Bengals' fan base and Ohio State's overlap heavily across the southern half of the state, and plenty of the fans at Paycor Stadium on Sunday night will have spent Saturday afternoon watching the Buckeyes.

The band has not yet said what it will play. Its halftime shows at Ohio Stadium this season have ranged from Disney music to a Wild West theme, so whatever it brings to Cincinnati is likely to be built for the national television audience.

Sources: Cincinnati Bengals, The Ohio State University Marching Band, Ohio State News.

Photo: Michael Barera/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). File photo of the Ohio State University Marching Band before the Ohio State vs. Michigan game at Michigan Stadium, Nov. 30, 2013.