The Orange and the Volunteers will battle to open the season.
Tennessee and Syracuse are set for an early kickoff in Atlanta on August 30th. The Volunteers and Orange will square off at Mercedes-Benz Stadium at noon ET on ABC, according to Brett McMurphy.
Alabama at Florida State gets the afternoon slot while LSU at Clemson will get the primetime slot. South Carolina and Virginia Tech is set for Sunday afternoon in Atlanta.
SEC/ACC opening weekend kickoff/broadcasts
Aug 30, Saturday
Syracuse-Tennessee (Atlanta), noon ET ABC
Alabama at Florida State, 3:30 pm ABC
LSU at Clemson, 7:30 pm ABCAug 31, Sunday
South Carolina-Virginia Tech (Atlanta), 3 pm ESPN— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) May 13, 2025
Syracuse serves as Tennessee’s non-conference power four matchup this season, coming off of a breakout 2024 under Fran Brown. The former Georgia assistant quickly turned things around in Syracuse, snatching up Kyle McCord in the transfer portal and going 10-3 in his first season as head coach. Brown will now replace McCord with Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli.
Tennessee will also be in transition at quarterback following the departure of Nico Iamaleava. Josh Heupel added Joey Aguilar out of the portal to give the Volunteers a veteran option, but young arms George MacIntyre and Jake Merklinger will also battle for the starting job.
Syracuse will be an early test for the Volunteers, straight out of the gates. They’ll get a tune-up game after that against ETSU in Knoxville before hosting Georgia on September 13th. After those first three games of the season, you’ll probably know all you need to know about this 2025 group one way or another.