SEC TO INCLUDE LEAGUE OFFICE IN INSTANT REPLAY
Southeastern Conference athletic directors have voted unanimously for the league to implement a collaborative process for instant replay, which will begin with the upcoming football season.The NCAA Football Rules Committee in February approved a request submitted by the SEC to allow conferences to use a collaborative process for replays on an experimental basis. Under the experiment, personnel operating at the SEC office in Birmingham will assist the stadium officials when replay decisions are made.“Our goal is to continue to use the best-available resources to support correct outcomes when instant replay is used,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a released statement. “We believe the collaborative effort, which will involve additional officiating experts during replay reviews, will enhance the conference’s football officiating program.“I believe this update to the instant replay review process will better support football officiating in the SEC through the use of technology.”— David Paschall
Alabama's season-opening matchup against Southern California, which pits Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin against the program he once headed, will be shown in prime time.
ABC and ESPN on Tuesday announced starting times for 10 games on college football's opening weekend, which is being billed as the best in the sport's history.
The 2016 season will kick off Thursday, Sept. 1, with South Carolina visiting Vanderbilt in a Southeastern Conference Eastern Division game that will be televised at 8 p.m. EDT by ESPN. The Sept. 3 lineup will begin at 7:30 a.m. on ESPN2, when Georgia Tech and Boston College meet in an Atlantic Coast Conference contest in Dublin, Ireland.
Saturday's noon schedule has Oklahoma and Houston vying on ABC at the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff in Houston, as well as Hawaii visiting Michigan on ESPN for the start of Jim Harbaugh's second season in Ann Arbor. The mid-afternoon schedule is highlighted by LSU facing Wisconsin at 3:30 (ABC) at historic Lambeau Field and Georgia colliding with North Carolina at 5:30 (ESPN) in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic in Atlanta.
Lambeau Field has not hosted a college football game since 1983 and never has housed one at the Division I level.
Georgia and North Carolina are each making a second Chick-fil-A Kickoff appearance after losing the first time around. The two schools have met 30 times, but this will be their first encounter since the 1971 Liberty Bowl, when Vince Dooley's Bulldogs topped Bill Dooley's Tar Heels 7-3.
The Saturday night schedule contains Alabama against USC at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, which will kick off at 8 on ABC. The Crimson Tide opened last season with a win over Wisconsin at AT&T Stadium and returned to defeat Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl, which served as a national semifinal in the four-team playoff.
Alabama holds a 5-2 series edge over the Trojans, including a 24-3 win at the 1985 Aloha Bowl, which was their last meeting.
Last but not least on the opening Saturday will be Clemson's visit to Auburn for an ESPN-televised game that will start at 9. This will be the 50th meeting between the two sets of Tigers, with Auburn leading the series 34-13-2 but Clemson having won the last two meetings.
College football's inaugural weekend will include the Sunday night matchup of Notre Dame at Texas, which will be televised by ESPN at 7:30. The Fighting Irish routed the Longhorns 38-3 last September in South Bend.
On Labor Day night, Ole Miss will face Florida State in Orlando at the Camping World Kickoff, which will start at 8 on ESPN. The only previous meeting between the Rebels and Seminoles took place in 1961, when Ole Miss rolled to a 33-0 victory in Oxford.
The network and starting time for Tennessee's opener Sept. 3 against Appalachian State have not been announced, nor have they for the Sept. 10 game between the Volunteers and Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.
First weekend of televised games
Here is the list of games to be shown on television the first weekend of the college football season, Sept. 1-5, as of Tuesday: Sept. 1 8 p.m.: South Carolina at Vanderbilt, ESPN TBA: Oregon State at Minnesota, Big Ten Network Sept. 2 7 p.m.: Army vs. Temple, CBS Sports Network 7 p.m.: Furman at Michigan State, Big Ten Network Sept. 3 7:30 a.m.: Georgia Tech vs. Boston College (at Ireland), ESPN2 Noon: Fordham at Navy, CBS Sports Network Noon: Hawaii at Michigan, ESPN Noon: Oklahoma vs. Houston (at NRG Stadium), ABC 3:30 p.m.: LSU vs. Wisconsin (at Green Bay), ABC 5:30 p.m.: Georgia vs. North Carolina (at Atlanta), ESPN 8 p.m.: Fresno State at Nebraska, Big Ten Network 8 p.m.: USC vs. Alabama (at Arlington, Texas), ABC 9 p.m.: Clemson at Auburn, ESPN 10:30 p.m.: Northern Illinois at Wyoming, CBS Sports Network Sept. 4 7:30 p.m.: Notre Dame at Texas, ABC Sept. 5 8 p.m.: Ole Miss vs. Florida State (at Orlando), ESPN