ESPN Makes Call on Georgia Bulldogs vs. South Carolina Game Time
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ATHENS - The Georgia Bulldogs and Kirby Smart now know the kickoff times of four of their contests for the 2021 season - and none of them are at noon.
ESPN announced Thursday that the Bulldogs’ game with the South Carolina Gamecocks and former UGA assistant coach Shane Beamer will air in primetime on ESPN. The home opener for Kirby Smart’s program will be televised at 3:30 on ESPN2 - the week before the clash with the Gamecocks. That game is against UAB and will be televised on ESPN2.
It was previously announced that Georgia will kickoff against the Clemson Tigers on ABC at 7:30 PM, and against the Florida Gators at 3:30 on CBS.
The releases firm up many assumptions about the Bulldogs’ 2021 schedule. UGA announced Thursday that the Bulldogs’ home game on October 16th vs. Kentucky would be the school’s homecoming game. Georgia was one of five SEC schools that did not have a game selected to be played on ESPN’s new ESPN+/SECN+ digital package during the first three weeks of the year.
That means the Bulldogs’ game with Charleston Southern in November is very likely to take that spot. The new agreement between Disney and the SEC stipulates that each member institution will have at least one game shown exclusively on the ESPN+/SECN+ digital package.
Still, the Bulldogs playing twice in primetime as well as on ESPN2 shows the strength of the Bulldogs’ draw on traditional television. Four of the Bulldogs’ games in 2020 were ranked in the top 18 of all televised college football games. Only Ohio State and Alabama, who played in their respective conference title games as well as the CFP NCG had more top 18 games than the Dawgs.
Amount of games with viewership in the top 18
1. Ohio State - 6
2. Alabama - 5
3. Georgia - 4
3. Notre Dame - 4
5. Clemson - 3
6. Florida - 2
6. North Carolina - 2
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