Miami-Tennessee Football Game Set For 12 p.m. ET Kickoff
Oct. 27, 2003
Coral Gables, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – ESPN and the BIG EAST Conference announced today that the University of Miami’s football game with the University of Tennessee will be televised regionally by ABC Sports on Saturday, November 8, beginning at 12 p.m. Eastern time from the Orange Bowl in Miami. Other regional telecasts for ABC in that time slot are Michigan State at Ohio State, Texas A&M at Oklahoma, and UCLA at Washington State. Viewers should check local listings for the game to be televised in their area.
The Hurricanes (7-0 this season, 3-0 in BIG EAST play) and Volunteers (5-2; 3-2 SEC East) are both ranked among the nation’s top 20 in the latest national rankings. Miami maintains a No. 2 ranking it has held most of the season while the Volunteers moved up to No. 19 in the Associated Press poll and 18th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ rankings released Sunday. The Volunteers improved to 5-2 on the season this past Saturday with a 51-43 victory over archrival Alabama in a memorable 5-overtime thriller while the Hurricanes took the weekend off.
This game will mark the third football meeting between the two schools with both teams owning a victory in the previous two meetings. Miami won the most recent game in the series, taking a 26-3 victory at Knoxville last season. Tennessee won the first – and only other – meeting between UM and UT, taking a 35-7 victory over the Hurricanes in the 1986 Sugar Bowl following the 1985 regular season.
The Volunteers’ trip to the Orange Bowl marks UT’s first visit to the historic stadium since the 1968 Orange Bowl Classic in which Tennessee took on Oklahoma and suffered a 26-24 setback to the Sooner to wrap up the 1967 football season. Tennessee has played in the Orange Bowl stadium a total of three times in its history, taking part in the 1939 Orange Bowl (defeating Oklahoma, 17-0) and the 1947 Orange Bowl (lost to Rice, 8-0) prior to the 1968 O.B. Classic.
Both teams have one game on their schedule prior to this game. Miami travels to Blacksburg, Va., to take on Virginia Tech this Saturday in a crucial BIG EAST Conference clash. Tennessee will host Duke University this Saturday in Knoxville in a non-conference matchup.
Television plans have not been announced on Miami’s games versus Syracuse (Nov. 15 at the Orange Bowl), or Rutgers (Nov. 22 at the Orange Bowl). Also, an exact time has not been determined for Miami’s season-ending clash at Pittsburgh on Nov. 29 in another game that will be televised by ABC.
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