NORMAN — The remaining television windows for OU football‘s inaugural SEC slate were announced Tuesday, along with the kickoff time for the Sooners’ non-conference matchup with Maine in November.
The 1:30 p.m. start time for the contest against the Black Bears was set to honor the 100th season at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The kickoff time was the typical start time for OU home games from 1962-1995.
“We think it fits perfectly within the framework of our season-long stadium celebration and are excited to kick off at 1:30 p.m. once again,” OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said in a release. “An afternoon start also made sense to us with it being a November game and temperatures starting to dip.”
While 11 a.m. games have been common in recent seasons in the Big 12 — they had seven such early kicks last season — there won’t be nearly as many morning starts in the SEC.
The Sooners will have a maximum of two such games, with the Oct. 19 home game against South Carolina and the Oct. 26 game at Ole Miss set for start between 11-noon. Exact kickoff times for those games will be announced during the season.
Four games — the Sept. 21 game against Tennessee, Nov. 9 at Missouri, Nov. 23 against Alabama and Nov. 30 vs. LSU — were picked for “flex” spots, meaning they’ll begin either between 2:30-3:30 p.m. or 5-7 p.m. The Sept. 28 game against Auburn will be an afternoon kickoff between 2:30-3:30 p.m.
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2024 OU football schedule
- Aug. 30 vs. Temple, 6 p.m. (ESPN)
- Sept. 7 vs. Houston, 6:45 p.m. (SECN)
- Sept. 14 vs. Tulane, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN or ESPN2)
- Sept. 21 vs. Tennessee, 2:30-3:30 or 5-7 p.m.
- Sept. 28 at Auburn, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
- Oct. 12 vs. Texas (Dallas), 2:30 p.m. (ABC or ESPN)
- Oct. 19 vs. South Carolina, 11-noon
- Oct. 26 at Ole Miss, 11-noon
- Nov. 2 vs. Maine, 1:30 p.m. (ESPN+/SECN+)
- Nov. 9 at Missouri, 2:30-3:30 or 5-7 p.m.
- Nov. 23 vs. Alabama, 2:30-3:30 or 5-7 p.m.
- Nov. 30 at LSU, 2:30-3:30 or 5-7 p.m.