PRIMETIME: Miami at Florida set for 8 p.m. (Book your hotels now!)

GAINESVILLE -- It's going to be crazy in Gainesville for the second Saturday of the season. The SEC released its tentative television schedule on Tuesday and Florida hosts Miami at 8 p.m. on Sept. 6. ESPN will carry the rivalry game.

(I hope everyone realizes what this means. If you're driving up for the game and you plan on getting a hotel, then you better go ahead and book your room now. The Swamp is going to be absolutely rocking by the time kickoff rolls around and no one is going to want to drive back down Florida's Turnpike after that.)

FLORIDA SEASON OPENER
Bring your sunscreen to the season opener. Florida begins the season against Hawaii with a 12:30 p.m. kickoff on Aug. 30.

ABC and ESPN and ESPN2 apparently passed on Florida-Hawaii, leaving Raycom with the first-week leftovers. (And I thought Hawaii-Florida was a pretty intriguing game. Shows what I know.)

I understand the reasoning for ABC and ESPN passing over Florida-Hawaii. ABC is airing Alabama-Clemson (8 p.m.) in Atlanta. (No shocker there.) ESPN is hoping Appalachian State can repeat last season magic and upset another national power. This time it would be LSU in Death Valley at 6:45 p.m. App State took down Michigan last season but only one or two people watched the game on live television (Big Ten Network).

But you know Florida gets absolutely no respect from national television execs when ESPN2 opts for Mississippi State vs. Louisiana Tech over Florida-Hawaii. What a joke, right? Florida STILL has a kid named Tim Tebow. Did somebody at ESPN forget that shortly after airing the Heisman Trophy ceremony?

ANYWAY, guess ESPN didn't want to double book Florida two weekends in a row. Here's the rest of the tentative SEC television schedule.

Date                 Time         Network  Game

(Thu.) Aug. 28  7 p.m         ESPNU      Vanderbilt at Miami (Ohio)

(Thu.) Aug. 28  8 p.m.        ESPN        N.C. State at South Carolina

(Sat.) Aug. 30 12:30 p.m. Raycom   Hawaii at Florida

(Sat.) Aug. 30  5 p.m.        ESPN       Appalachian State at LSU

(Sat.) Aug. 30  6:45 p.m.  ESPN2    Miss. State at La. Tech

(Sat.) Aug. 30  8 p.m.        ABC       Alabama vs. Clemson (Atlanta)

(Sun.) Aug. 31  3:30 p.m.  ESPN       Kentucky at Louisville

(Mon.) Sept. 1  8 p.m.        ESPN       Tennessee at UCLA

(Thu.) Sept. 4  8:30 p.m.    ESPN       South Carolina at Vanderbilt

(Sat.) Sept. 6    12:30 p.m. Raycom   Southern Mississippi at Auburn

(Sat.) Sept. 6    3:30 p.m.    ABC        Ole Miss at Wake Forest

(Sat.) Sept. 6  8 p.m.        ESPN     Miami at Florida

(Sat.) Sept. 13  12:30 p.m.  Raycom UAB at Tennessee

(Sat.) Sept. 13  3:30 p.m.     CBS       Georgia at South Carolina

(Sat.) Sept. 13  3:30 p.m.     ABC    Arkansas at Texas

(Sat.) Sept. 13  7 p.m.          ESPN2  Auburn at Mississippi State      

(Sat.) Sept. 20  8:13 p.m.     ABC      Georgia at Arizona State

(Thu.) Oct. 23  7:30 p.m.     ESPN     Auburn at West Virginia

(Fri.) Nov. 28    12:30 p.m.  Raycom Mississippi State at Ole Miss

(Fri.) Nov. 28    2:30 p.m.     CBS      LSU at Arkansas (Little Rock)

(Sat.) Dec. 6      4 p.m.         CBS     SEC Championship Game (Atlanta, Ga.)

All Times Eastern

Tentative and Subject to Change

Additional games to be added as become available

-jo-