Florida-Miami Season Opener Date May Be Moved Up One Week
The Florida-Miami season opener may be moved up from Aug. 31 to Aug. 24, the schools announced in a joint statement.
"This past December, Florida, Miami and Florida Citrus Sports were approached by ESPN, who had the College Football 150th organization's support (the entity overseeing the upcoming season-long celebration), to explore interest in moving the Camping World Kickoff game in Orlando to August 24 as part of a special kick off day celebrating the sports 150th anniversary season. This is a unique and rare opportunity that would showcase college football, both storied programs, and the state of Florida. In January, a waiver was submitted to the NCAA seeking approval to move the game under this premise. Both schools, along with ESPN, College Football 150th Anniversary organization and Florida Citrus Sports, understand that fans, and the teams themselves, need time to make necessary arrangements should the waiver be granted. A decision is anticipated shortly."
The news was first reported by the Orlando Sentinel.
The game, which is the first matchup between the rivals since 2013, will be played at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium. If the game is moved up, it would be the earliest start to the season for either program and would have to be approved by the NCAA. The only other FBS game scheduled for that day, which is popularly known as Week Zero, is Arizona at Hawaii.
This season's matchup will pit new Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz against second-year Gators coach Dan Mullen.
The two schools last met on Sept. 7, 2013, a 21–16 Miami win.
Last season, the Gators went 10–3 with a win over Michigan in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, while the Hurricanes ended the year at 7–6 with a loss to Wisconsin in the Pinstripe Bowl.
