The kickoff time and broadcast details are still not set for Tennessee football’s matchup against Florida at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville.
The rivalry matchup will either kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. ET or 7:30 p.m. ET. It is not yet clear what network is broadcasting the game. Before the season, the SEC announced that the Florida-Tennessee game would either be in the afternoon or at night so this news is really no news.
The SEC will formally announce the kickoff time and broadcast details for Tennessee-Florida on Saturday night. Despite there being three potential time slots for the game, the only other SEC game in the flex is Arkansas’ road matchup at Texas.
Tennessee’s matchup against New Mexico State will be its fifth afternoon game of the season. The Vols have played three night games this year and two games in the noon time slot.
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Tennessee boasts a 6-3 (3-3 SEC) record ahead of this week’s non conference matchup against New Mexico State at Neyland Stadium. With three losses, the Vols chances to return to the College Football Playoffs are all but extinct. But Tennessee still has plenty to play for with a rivalry game against Florida chief amongst them.
The Vols have not won in Gainesville since 2003, losing 10 straight road games against Florida ahead of the November matchup. If there was ever a season for Tennessee to win in Gainesville, this would be it.
Florida is currently 3-6 (2-4 SEC) and has another challenging matchup this week when they go on the road to face No. 6 Ole Miss. The Gators have already fired head coach Billy Napier and have to win out to make a bowl game this season. Florida has had flashes of solid play this season, most notably a win over Texas. But it’s been few and far between including an embarrassing loss at Kentucky last week.
It’s a weak SEC slate on the penultimate week of the regular season. Six SEC teams are playing no conference games that week while there are only four SEC matchups. The only other SEC games in week 13 include Missouri-Oklahoma at noon ET on ABC, the Arkansas-Texas game that is also flexed and Kentucky-Vanderbilt at 3:30 p.m. on one of ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.
