Kickoff times have been announced for Week 3 of the 2025 college football season. While there was a chance that Georgia would be playing Tennessee at night from Neyland Stadium, ESPN opted to go with another primetime kick instead. With Florida traveling to Death Valley to take on LSU at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 13, Georgia will face Tennessee at 3:30 p.m. ET for the mid-afternoon kickoff.
This is significant for a few reasons. One, even in down years for Tennessee, Neyland Stadium can be a hostile environment for anyone. Having a few less hours to tailgate could pipe down the raucous crowd noise just a bit. The second is it will be even less time for some of Tennessee's key players to be healthy. This makes it all the more difficult that Jermod McCoy or Rickey Gibson III could suit up.
And finally, having the mid-afternoon kick from Neyland gives the Georgia players less time to get in their own head. Frankly, a 12:00 p.m. ET kickoff would have been bad, too. This is because Georgia cannot afford to sleepwalk heading into any game this season, especially against a ranked opponent who actively hates them in Tennessee. Right now, it is hard to beat the 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff in Week 3.
Georgia must play with a refined focus to possibly be 3-0 heading into the Alabama game in Week 5.
Georgia gets the perfect kickoff time to hand Tennessee its first SEC loss
Because LSU leapfrogged Georgia in the AP Top 25, as well as Florida being ranked higher than Tennessee to start the season, the clash between former SEC cross-divisional rivals was always going to be the top pick for the primetime kick on ABC. Texas A&M at Notre Dame is another great one going on, but that will be airing on NBC/Peacock because it is a home game for the Fighting Irish.
Although they are not going to move it now, it would be absurdly funny if South Florida got the best of Florida in Gainesville in Week 2 to improve to 2-0. If USF did beat the Gators, the Bulls would almost certainly be ranked with upset wins over Boise State and Florida. LSU is going to improve to 2-0 in all likelihood with Louisiana Tech coming to town in Week 2. Georgia and Tennessee should be 2-0, too.
In a way, the 3:30 p.m. ET kick has historically been a double-edged sword in the SEC. Admittedly, it no longer carries anywhere the same amount of gravitas as it once did when it was the CBS SEC Game of the Week. Although it is nice to not have to settle for noon kicks, the stage is still slightly higher than the first ones right out of the game. All the while, Georgia playing at 3:30 p.m. ET works.
Given how much animus exists between these two teams, Kirby Smart will have Georgia ready to play.