Florida football will host SEC Nation in Week 1 season opener

SEC Nation will be in Gainesville at the Plaza of the Americas for the Week 1 showdown between Florida and Miami in the Swamp.

SEC Network’s traveling show, SEC Nation, will open the 2024 season in Gainesville at the Plaza of the Americas when the Gators host the No. 19-ranked Miami Hurricanes inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Aug. 31.

SEC Nation returns to college football tailgates, stadiums and sidelines this fall and will regularly follow the site of the 3:30 p.m. ET SEC on ABC showdown. Florida graduate Laura Rutledge will host the show for her eighth season — her ninth on the show overall — joined by Gator great Tim Tebow, Paul Finebaum, Jordan Rodgers and Roman Harper.

It all begins on Friday at the Plaza of the Americas with The Paul Finebaum Show. Fans are encouraged to arrive before the show goes live at 3 p.m. On Saturday for SEC Nation at 9 a.m. ET, fans can show up early to secure a spot at the front for a chance to meet the talent, be on TV and win giveaways.

The University of Florida has hosted SEC Nation 11 times previously — including six times in Gainesville — since the show first aired in 2014. The show most recently came to Gainesville on Sept. 18, 2021, when the No. 11 Gators hosted the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide in the Swamp.

SEC Nation was also in attendance when the Gators last faced Miami, as the show traveled to Camping World Stadium in Orlando for the Aug. 24, 2019, matchup.

Florida’s upcoming 12th time playing host will move the Gators into a tie with the Georgia Bulldogs for the second-most host appearances on SEC Nation.

SEC Nation will also be getting a new theme song, commemorating the program’s tenth season on air and new era for the conference as a whole, written and recorded by Florida alumnus Brooke Eden.

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