Orlando Season Opener Between Hurricanes & Gators Moved Up A Week
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Fans who can't wait for the beginning of the Miami Hurricanes' next football season are getting a big gift.
On Thursday the University of Miami announced that, in conjunction with the University of Florida, ESPN and others, the season opening game between the Hurricanes and Gators would be moved from its original scheduled date of Saturday, August 31st.
Instead, the game will take place a week earlier, on Saturday, August 24th with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
It will still be played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
The date change was approved by the NCAA on Thursday.
"ESPN approached both UM and Florida with the unique idea to broadcast this matchup as the culmination of a daylong celebration of college football's 150th anniversary season," Miami Director of Athletics Blake James said. "After consulting with [head coach] Manny [Diaz], we agreed that this would be a tremendous opportunity to showcase Hurricanes football – both our present team and our long, storied tradition – on a national stage."
According to a release from the University of Miami, both schools have reached out to primary air carries to ask that they provide relief for fans who already booked travel plans and now need to make changes.