Talk about your Labor Day weekend football feast.
ESPN and ABC revealed kickoff times and television information Tuesday for touted Sept. 4 season openers involving Alabama and Georgia, giving Crimson Tide and Bulldogs backers plenty of opportunity to plan ahead. The Alabama-Miami matchup in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game inside Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium will have a 3:30 kickoff on ABC, while the Georgia-Clemson pairing in the Duke's Mayo Classic at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium will have a 7:30 start on ABC.
The venues housing Alabama-Miami and Georgia-Clemson were recently cleared to open to full capacity.
Labor Day weekend in the Southeastern Conference will kick off Thursday, Sept. 2, when Tennessee opens the Josh Heupel era with a visit from Bowling Green in an 8 p.m. contest on the SEC Network. The Volunteers and Falcons have met just once before, with Tennessee opening its 2015 season with a 59-30 triumph in Neyland Stadium.
Alabama holds a commanding 14-3 series lead against Miami, and this will be the first matchup between the Crimson Tide and Hurricanes since their most memorable encounter - when No. 2 Alabama stunned No. 1 Miami 34-13 in the Sugar Bowl that determined the 1992 national championship.
Georgia's series advantage over Clemson is also impressive, with the Bulldogs having improved to 42-18-4 with the 45-21 trampling of the Tigers during the 2014 season opener in Athens. Since then, however, Clemson has won national titles in 2016 and 2018, defeating Alabama on each occasion.
This year's Labor Day weekend smorgasbord also includes LSU at UCLA on Sept. 4 (8 on FOX), Notre Dame at Florida State on Sept. 5 (7:30 on ABC), and Ole Miss vs. Louisville in Atlanta on Sept. 6 (8 on ESPN).
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.