The Southeastern Conference on Tuesday announced the league’s 2015 football schedule, which for the third-straight year features a 6-1-1 format of six inter-division games, one permanent cross-division rival and one rotating cross-division opponent.
In addition to playing the rest of the SEC East, the Florida Gators will go head-to-head with permanent cross-division rival LSU for the 45th consecutive season (dating back to 1971) and host Ole Miss, marking the first meeting between the programs since the Rebels took down the Gators in 2008.
Ole Miss defeated Florida 31-30 that year. It was the Gators’ only loss of the season and the catalyst to Tim Tebow’s “The Promise” speech; Florida won 10-straight games and closed the season with both the SEC and national titles.
The Rebels will not get a return date with the Gators until 2020, the first time Florida will play a game in Oxford, Mississippi, in 13 years dating back to 2007.
UF will play four of its first five – and three of its last four – games at home. Florida will also play seven-straight games to open the season before its lone open week. The NCAA only allows double bye weeks on years in which Aug. 30 or Aug. 31 falls on a Saturday.
Sept. 5 – vs. New Mexico State
Sept. 12 – vs. East Carolina
Sept. 19 – at Kentucky
Sept. 26 – vs. Tennessee
Oct. 3 – vs. Ole Miss
Oct. 10 – at Missouri
Oct. 17 – at LSU
Oct. 24 – BYE WEEK
Oct. 31 – vs. Georgia (Jacksonville, FL)
Nov. 7 – vs. Vanderbilt
Nov. 14 – at South Carolina
Nov. 21 – vs. Florida Atlantic
Nov. 28 – vs. Florida State
Florida will not open its SEC slate against Tennessee for just the third time in the past 14 seasons^. The Gators and Volunteers are scheduled to go head-to-head as the second league game on Sept. 26, continuing the end of a trend of playing each other on the third Saturday in September that dated back 22 years to 1992*.
^ Florida opened its league slate in Week 2 against Texas A&M in 2012 and against Kentucky in Week 3 in 2013.
* UF-UT was scheduled for the third week of the 2001 season but delayed due to the Sept. 11 attacks.
7 Comments