Recent trend for Tennessee Vols could make Georgia game even tougher

The Tennessee Volunteers have played some big games this season, and naturally that's meant a lot of late-night television exposure for the Big Orange.  In fact, it's gone from a trend in 2024 to just about the norm.  Tennessee had 7:30 pm ET kickoffs for NC State, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.  A 7:45 pm start for […]

Craig Smith — College Football & NFL Trending News Writer
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Nov 5, 2022; Athens, Georgia, USA; The Georgia Bulldogs and Tennessee Volunteers line up over the ball during the second half at Sanford Stadium.
Nov 5, 2022; Athens, Georgia, USA; The Georgia Bulldogs and Tennessee Volunteers line up over the ball during the second half at Sanford Stadium. Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Tennessee Volunteers have played some big games this season, and naturally that's meant a lot of late-night television exposure for the Big Orange.  In fact, it's gone from a trend in 2024 to just about the norm. 

Tennessee had 7:30 pm ET kickoffs for NC State, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.  A 7:45 pm start for Kentucky.  A 7:00 pm start for Florida and for the game coming up on Saturday against Mississippi State. 

Now, you can add another night game to the list, and it could make the Vols' biggest challenge of the season even more daunting.  The Vols announced on Monday that they'll face the Georgia Bulldogs on November 16 in Athens at 7:30 pm ET.  The game will be televised nationally on ABC. 

Typically, when CBS held the broadcast rights to the SEC, the biggest game of the week would go in the 3:30 pm ET time slot.  However, that hasn't gone fully to plan this year, with the biggest games going at night on ABC.  Georgia-Alabama, Georgia-Texas, and now Tennessee-Georgia are all ABC night slot matchups. 

As has been mentioned before, waiting all day to play at night is disfavored by a portion of the players.  However, it's something that both sides are going to have to deal with.  What's also going to have to be dealt with is a fan base that's had an extra 3+ hours to, shall we say, "prepare" for the game in the parking lot with some adult refreshments.  

As such, the challenge will be very high for the Vols going into Athens next weekend.  However, with a defense as good as they've had in decades, it would be foolish to discount their chances of pulling off the upset. 

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