The Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes will open their 2019 seasons with each other — and will, officially, be opening the 2019 college football season, too, with Florida announcing late Thursday that the NCAA has granted a waiver allowing the programs to play the Camping World Kickoff on Saturday, August 24, instead of August 31.
The statement from Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin calling the date chance a “unique and rare opportunity” does not explicitly note that ESPN’s desire for a marquee matchup to help launch its season-long celebration of the 150th anniversary of American college football, but it doesn’t exactly elide that fact, either.