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Kickoff times, TV information set for Tennessee Football's first three games

On3 imageby:Brent Hubbs05/30/24

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NCAA Football: Texas-San Antonio at Tennessee
(Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports)

Start times and television information for Tennessee Football’s first three games of the 2024 season have been set. The SEC on Thursday announced the league-wide schedule for the first three weeks of the season.

The season opener against Chattanooga on August 31 will be a 12:45 p.m. Eastern Time start on SEC Network. The neutral-site game against North Carolina State on September 7 in Charlotte will be a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ABC.

Tennessee’s September 14 home date against Kent State will be a 7:45 p.m. ET start at Neyland Stadium and will be televised by SEC Network.

12:45 p.m. starts replacing Noon kickoffs on SEC Network

As a part of the new television package with ABC/ESPN, the SEC Network’s first game on Saturdays is now set for 12:45 p.m. start instead of noon. The 12:45 start will be the weekly standard first game for the SEC Network.

The matchup against Chattanooga will mark the 11th time the Vols have opened the season in August. Tennessee has a 8-1-1 record in August. The tie came against Colorado in 1990 in the Pigskin Classic and the loss was against Georgia State in 2019. Josh Heupel is 6-0 in season-opening games as a head coach.

The start time for the Tennessee-N.C. State game was announced earlier this month. The neutral-site game will be held at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte in the Duke’s Mayo Classic. It’s the fourth match up between the schools, with Tennessee beating the Wolfpack 35-21 in the most recent matchup, in Atlanta in 2012.

SEC will start using flex scheduling options for 2024 season

Tennessee will return home to Neyland Stadium for Week 3 of the season, hosting Kent State before entering SEC play the following week at Oklahoma. The 7:45 p.m. ET start for Tennessee and Kent State will mark the first time the two teams have played.

The rest of the start times for the season will be announced this fall. However in mid-June the remaining games will be assigned a window letting fans know if it will be a day or night game.

There will be four windows which will include a flex option, meaning the game could kick anytime on that Saturday. The flex option will be used on just a limited basis. 

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