Where did the summer go? It’s almost August and football is right around the corner. Saturday, August 12, the Tennessee Titans visit Chicago to take on the Bears in preseason action. Catch the game free on WKRN TV, Channel 2.
Thursday, August 17, the Metro Nashville Public Schools kick off the TSSAA football year with matchups like Cane Ridge at Mt. Juliet (worth going to just to see Johnny Croft’s Rhythmic Ravens Marching Band). Other high school games follow that Friday across the region and state.
Local colleges get into gear on Saturday, August 26, on West End, as the Vanderbilt Commodores host the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors at 1:30 p.m. Hawai’i time, or that’s 6:30 local time, at First Bank Stadium on Vandy’s campus. The game can be seen on the SEC Network. The first national game that day features Notre Dame hosting Navy; more about ND later.
The state’s other SEC Team, the University of Tennessee Volunteers, host the University of Virginia Cavaliers the following weekend, on Saturday, September 2. And, speaking of SEC teams, the Alabama Crimson Tide will roll into Murfreesboro on that Saturday, September 2, to visit the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders.
Saturday, September 2 will be a huge deal for Tennessee State University, as the Tigers are off to South Bend, Indiana to play at Notre Dame. Marcus Freeman, now in his second year as the Head Coach of the Fighting Irish welcomes a team coached by fellow Ohio State University alumnus Eddie George. Third-year head coach George will be the first-ever coach from a Historically Black College and University to lead his team against the Irish, as they have never faced an HBCU opponent. Freeman is Notre Dame’s second black head coach; Tyrone Willingham coached the Irish from 2002-2004. TSU will become the first FCS school to play ND since the subdivision split. The nationally televised game can be seen locally on free TV, WSMV, Channel 4 and / or streamed on Peacock, with a 2:30 pm CDT kickoff set.
Now, about TSU. In February 2022 the Big South Conference and Ohio Valley Conference created an association of their football member institutions, beginning with the 2023 NCAA Division I football season with an initial term of four years. The unique agreement combines the two conferences’ football membership to ensure NCAA championship access and stability for the multisport conferences.
Presidents from each of the conferences pointed to the similarities of the OVC and the Big South, with their complementary geographies and intercollegiate athletic philosophies. The association held its football Media Day on Tuesday, July 25.
Schools included in the association include Bryant University (Smithfield, RI), Charleston Southern University (Charleston, SC), Eastern Illinois University (Charleston, IL), Gardner-Webb University (Boiling Springs, NC), Lindenwood University (St. Charles, MO), Robert Morris University (Moon Township, PA), Southeast Missouri State University (Cape Girardeau, MO), Tennessee State University (Nashville, TN), Tennessee Technological University (Cookeville, TN) and University of Tennessee at Martin (Martin, TN). Western Illinois University (Macomb, IL) will join the association beginning with the 2024 season.
