All Sooners

SEC Announces Kickoff Time for Oklahoma-Tennessee Game

The Sooners and Vols meet on Sept. 21 in Norman, the SEC opener for both and OU's first ever game as a member of the Southeastern Conference.

John E. Hoover

Fans hold up their phones to light up the stadium during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Houston Cougars at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024.
Fans hold up their phones to light up the stadium during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Houston Cougars at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK
In this story:

OU-Tenn kick time

Where else would the Southeastern Conference put its new blue blood’s first game as a member of the league other than prime time?

No. 15 Oklahoma’s home game next week against No. 7 Tennessee has been picked up for a national broadcast by ABC and will kick off in prime time at 6:30 p.m., the SEC announced Monday.

It’s a showcase showdown of the league’s old guard versus its new. While OU is in its first year in the SEC, the Volunteers were a founding member in 1933.

OU leads the all-time series 3-1, including a 34-10 win in Norman in 2014 and a 31-24 victory in Knoxville in 2015. OU also owns a 26-24 victory over the Vols in the 1968 Orange Bowl. 

Tennessee’s only victory over Oklahoma came in the 1939 Orange Bowl, when the Vols won 17-0.

Both Tennessee and Oklahoma are 2-0 this season and are big favorites with non-conference home games this week. 

OU beat Temple 51-3 and survived a scare from Houston 16-12, while UT beat Chattanooga 69-3 and last week crushed No. 24 North Carolina State 51-10 in Charlotte.

This week, OU hosts Tulane while Tennessee takes on Kent State at Neyland Stadium.

Published |Modified
John E. Hoover

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

Home/Football