Auburn Football: First 3 Tigers Football Games Get Early Kickoff Times

In the first two years of the Gene Chizik era, Auburn has played a majority of its September games at night. Actually, every Auburn game in the month of September in the Gene Chizik era has been given a primetime slot.

You would think then, after winning the BCS National Championship, that trend would continue in 2011,right? Wrong, actually. In fact, it's the opposite. Auburn's first three games (Utah State, Mississippi State, at Clemson) have been given early kick-off times, as decided by commissioner Mike Slive at this year's SEC Meetings in Destin, Florida.

(NOTE: All times listed are Central Time.)

Auburn's season-opening game against the Utah State Aggies will kick-off at 11:00 A.M. and be televised nationally by either ESPN or ESPN2.

In Week 2, Auburn plays host to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in what will likely be a showdown of nationally-ranked squads. Kick-off is 11:21 A.M. The game will be televised by the SEC Network.

In Week 3, the reigning national champions face their first road test against the Clemson Tigers, who nearly beat Auburn in 2010. Kickoff has been set for 11:00 A.M. The game will be televised nationally by ABC.

These three Auburn games are not the only SEC games that have officially been given a kick-off time. The following is a list of games involving SEC teams that have been given a start time:

9/1/11 (Thursday)	Western Kentucky vs. Kentucky (Nashville, TN)	8:15 P.M. on ESPNU
9/3/11 (Saturday)	Utah State at Auburn	11:00 A.M. on ESPN or ESPN2
9/3/11 (Saturday)	Kent State at Alabama	11:21 A.M. on SEC Network
9/3/11 (Saturday)	BYU at Ole Miss	3:45 P.M. on ESPN
9/3/11 (Saturday)	Boise State vs. Georgia (Atlanta, GA)	7:00 P.M. on ESPN
9/3/11 (Saturday)	Oregon vs. LSU (Arlington, TX)	7:00 P.M. on ABC
9/10/11 (Saturday)	Mississippi State at Auburn	11:21 A.M. on SEC Network
9/10/11 (Saturday)	Cincinnati at Tennessee	2:30 P.M. on ESPN2
9/10/11 (Saturday)	South Carolina at Georgia	3:30 P.M. on ESPN
9/15/11 (Thursday)	LSU at Mississippi State	7:00 P.M. on ESPN
9/17/11 (Saturday)	Auburn at Clemson	11:00 A.M. on ABC
9/17/11 (Saturday)	Ole Miss at Vanderbilt	11:21 A.M. on SEC Network
9/17/11 (Saturday)	Tennessee at Florida	2:30 P.M. on CBS
9/17/11 (Saturday)	Navy at South Carolina	5:00 P.M. on ESPN2
10/1/11 (Saturday)	Ole Miss at Fresno State	8:15 P.M. on ESPN2
10/29/11 (Saturday)	Florida vs. Georgia (Jacksonville, FL)	2:30 P.M. on CBS
11/25/11 (Friday)	Arkansas at LSU	1:30 P.M. on CBS
12/3/11 (Saturday)	SEC Championship Game (Atlanta, GA)	3:00 P.M. on CBS

While some fans may be disappointed with the kick-off times, doesn't it feel good just to talk about football again?