On Tuesday, LSU announced that their 2018 kickoff game against Miami had been moved from Saturday, Sept. 1 to Sunday, Sept. 2. The change is part of what ESPN is planning as "five-day college football kickoff weekend showcase" extending from that Thursday all the way through Labor Day.
From LSU's press release:
BATON ROUGE - Miami and LSU, originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018, will now be played on Sunday, Sept. 2, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC as part of ESPN's networks five-day college football kickoff weekend showcase.
The game, which will be played in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will mark the third-consecutive year ABC has aired a prime-time game on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend.
The 2018 opener for the Hurricanes and Tigers will mark the first regular season meeting between the two schools since 1988 and just the third overall meeting since 1969. The Tigers beat Miami in the 2005 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the last meeting between the ACC and SEC schools. Overall, the schools have played 12 times, dating back to 1946, and the Tigers own a 9-3 advantage in those matchups.
Sunday night games have been trending in recent years as college football's Week 1 slate has continued to grow. The lack of major NFL games before their season starts has made it popular as teams and networks try to air as many games as possible.
Other kickoff games scheduled for the 2018 season include Auburn vs. Washington and Alabama vs. Louisville, among others.
