With schedule released, Florida Football gets potential break for their road games
![Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier shakes hands with fans during Gator Walk at the Orange and Blue spring football game at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, April 13, 2024. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_5472,h_3078,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F213%2F01j042k4va2wc0hkxbf9.jpg "Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier shakes hands with fans during Gator Walk at the Orange and Blue spring football game at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, April 13, 2024. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]")
In a move that Florida Football fans will appreciate, the TV time windows for every game of the 2024 season outside of the finale were released today. In the past, start times normally weren't announced until the week of the game.
And as such with the start times, the Gators may avoid having to play any of their road games in as raucous of an environment as they might had to experience.
Florida Football: Gators Before Dark
With today's announcement of start times, seven of Florida's games have an official start time, four could be flexed between 3:30 and 8 PM, and the finale against FSU is yet to be decided.
August 31 - Miami - 3:30 p.m.
September 7 - Samford - 7 p.m.
September 14 - Texas A&M - 3:30 p.m.
September 21 - @ Mississippi State - 12 p.m.
October 5 - UCF - Night (6-8 p.m.)
October 12 - @ Tennessee - Flex (3:30-8 p.m.)
October 19 - Kentucky - Flex (3:30-8 p.m.)
November 2 - Georgia - 3:30 p.m.
November 9 - @ Texas - 12 p.m.
November 16 - LSU - Flex (3:30-8 p.m.)
November 23 - Ole Miss - 12 p.m.
November 30 - @ Florida State - TBA
Gator fans might muse about the lack of night games, though the Kentucky and LSU games both have the potential to be flexed to night. In addition, and perhaps just as important for Gator fans, the Ole Miss game is the only home game Florida has that will be played at noon.
In addition, of the four road games the Gators have, two are guaranteed to be early starts and there is no guarantee the other two will be at night. Both Mississippi State and Texas will be at 11 AM local time, which increases the potential for a sleepy crowd which almost always benefits the road team.
The game against Tennessee is one of the flex games which could be at night, but if it is flexed to the 3:30 slot it means that the only potential road game Florida will have to play is their regular season finale against FSU.
In a season where Billy Napier and crew are going to need a lot of things to go right, catching every small break they can can't hurt.