Kickoff times, TV set for Tennessee games against Virginia, Florida
Kickoff times and TV information for Tennessee football’s season-opener against Virginia and SEC-opener against Florida has been set.
The Vols announced on Wednesday that the September 2 game against Virginia, a neutral-site game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, will be a Noon Eastern Time kickoff on ABC. It will be the second consecutive year the Vols will be on ABC after the Pitt game was televised on the network last September.
The road game at Florida on September 16 will be a 7 p.m. ET start on ESPN South Carolina at Georgia will be the SEC Game of the Week on CBS earlier that afternoon.
Kickoff time for the September 9 home-opener against Austin Peay has not yet been set, but the game will be an ESPN+/SEC Network+ online live stream.
ESPN’s FPI projects Vols to go 8-4 this season
ESPN’s FPI predicts Tennessee will go 8-4 in 2023 — the projected win-loss record is 8.2-3.9 —and gives the Vols a 98.1 percent chance to win at least six games. They have a 5.4 percent chance to win the SEC East, a 1.2 percent chance to win the SEC and a 2.5 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff. There’s an 0.7 percent chance to make the national championship game and an 0.2 percent chance to win the title.
Ohio State is No. 1 in the FPI, ahead of No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 LSU and No. 5 Texas. Michigan is No. 6, followed by No. 7 USC, No. 8 Clemson, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 10 Penn State and No. 11 Oklahoma.
Ole Miss is No. 16, Florida is No. 18 and Texas A&M is 19. Kentucky is No. 28, Arkansas is No. 30 and Mississippi State is No. 32. Auburn is No. 39, one spot ahead of No. 40 Missouri. South Carolina is No. 42 and Vanderbilt is No. 73.
The Vols open the season with the neutral-state game against Virginia September 2 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. They open the home schedule at Neyland Stadium on September 9 against Austin Peay and go on the road to open the SEC schedule at Florida on September 16.
Tennessee hosts UTSA on September 30 and opens its SEC home schedule against South Carolina on September 30. Texas A&M comes to Knoxville on October 14 and the Vols play back-to-back road games at Alabama on October 21 and Kentucky on October 28.
The Vols play UConn at home on November 4, go to Missouri on November 11 and host Georgia on November 18, before closing the regular-season schedule against Vanderbilt on November 25. Virginia is ranked No. 83 in the FPI and UConn is No. 120.
