UA season opener set for 6 p.m. kickoff Thursday, July 21, 2005 STEVE KIRK News staff writer TUSCALOOSA - At least four college football teams in the state will open their 2005 seasons on network television, but the University of Alabama isn't among them.
The Crimson Tide's opener Sept. 3 against Middle Tennessee will begin at 6 p.m. at Bryant-Denny Stadium, UA announced Wednesday. Fox Sports Net expressed interest in televising the game, but wanted an afternoon kickoff. The Southeastern Conference discussed that possibility with the network and UA officials, and the university had concerns about holding the contest in the heat of the day. The Alabama-Middle Tennessee game is a candidate for pay-per-view television, although nothing had been announced by UA as of Wednesday. UA Athletics Director Mal Moore said a "very limited number" of tickets remain for the game. The SEC is still working with Fox Sports Net to find a league team to televise Sept. 3 but also had no announcement Wednesday. The season's opening week will provide many state fans an early look at their teams: On Sept. 1, Jacksonville State's opener against Furman is scheduled for 7 p.m. on College Sports Television. On Sept. 3, the UAB-Tennessee game will be televised by Jefferson-Pilot at 11:30 a.m., ESPN2 will show Alabama State-South Carolina State from Legion Field at 2:30 p.m., and ESPN will show Auburn-Georgia Tech at 7:45 p.m. Alabama has network TV appearances slated for Games 2 and 3 this season. The Southern Miss game Sept. 10 in Tuscaloosa is set for 6:45 p.m. on ESPN2, while the Sept. 17 game at South Carolina begins at 2:30 p.m. on CBS. The South Carolina game is part of an SEC doubleheader on CBS that concludes with Tennessee at Florida at 7 p.m. Most of the Crimson Tide's games are expected to be picked up by network TV. The Utah State game Oct. 29, which is homecoming, has been scheduled for 2 p.m. It could be the only game besides Middle Tennessee not shown on network TV. Next week, the media get a first look at the season with SEC Media Days, a three-day event beginning Wednesday at the Wynfrey Hotel. Crimson Tide players officially report Aug. 8 for preseason practice, but most of them are on campus attending classes and working out. E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] © 2005 The Birmingham News © 2005 al.com All Rights Reserved. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ____________________________________________________ Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs _______________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics E-mail Discussion List Welcome to RollTideFan - Wear a Cup! To unsubscribe or make changes to your subscription, please visit http://rolltidefan.net/mailman/listinfo/rtf_rolltidefan.net
