GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The announcement was made as the Gators bused to Tupelo, Miss., for their flight home following Saturday night’s 34-24 loss at Ole Miss.

Florida’s home game against Tennessee this week would have a 7:30 p.m. kickoff time on ABC, the marquee time slot for TV ratings. And in the booth, the lead broadcast team of play-by-play voice Chris Fowler, analyst Kirk Herbstreit and sideline reporter Holly Rowe.

That’s nothing unusual for the big-brand Gators, who played road games at LSU and Miami in back-to-back weeks earlier this season in ABC’s prime-time slot. What is uncommon about Saturday’s game is that the Gators are 3-7 and ineligible for a bowl following the loss to the Rebels.

Still, a Florida-Tennessee matchup guarantees viewers, and while the Gators have struggled to find wins this season, the 23rd-ranked Vols are headed to a bowl game and seeking to snap a 10-game losing streak at The Swamp. Tennessee has not won at Florida since 2003, and during the losing streak, has lost by an average of 15.7 points.

ABC/ESPN chose the Florida-Tennessee game over other SEC matchups, including Missouri at Oklahoma and Arkansas at Texas. This is the latest the Florida-Tennessee game has been played since 2001, when, due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the game was rescheduled and played Dec. 1. The No. 2-ranked Gators lost, 34-32, to the fifth-ranked Vols in what turned out to be UF icon Steve Spurrier‘s final home game as Florida’s head coach.

Curious about the last time a team with a losing record (or as many as four games under .500) was chosen by ABC/ESPN for its marquee TV slot, I reached out to an ESPN representative on Monday and was told they don’t have records documenting the requested information.

While the data would have helped amplify the point, there is no denying the power of the Gators’ brand when it comes to TV ratings, or the interest in the Florida-Tennessee rivalry, which was arguably the best in college football in the 1990s when Spurrier and Vols coach Phil Fulmer traded jabs each September.

Nielsen released information last week that proved the point. Florida ranked eighth after Week 11 in total viewership this season, with 5.674 million viewers, close on the heels of No. 1-ranked Ohio State, which checked in at No. 7 (5.752 million viewers) in the Nielsen standings. The top six teams were all from the SEC and all have winning records.

Meanwhile, I turned to Google AI to ask a question related to my original curiosity: When was the last time ABC/ESPN had a team with a losing record in its Saturday night prime-time game?

Here is the response: While specific historical data on every single ABC/ESPN “Saturday Night Football” game is not immediately available, such occurrences are exceptionally rare in the era of high-profile, prime-time college football broadcasting, which typically features highly-ranked and competitive teams. The focus of “Saturday Night Football” is generally on top-tier matchups to attract maximum viewership.

AI confirmed what we already knew: Florida’s brand remains as healthy as a Paynes Prairie gator despite a season that veered off the tracks.

And a Florida-Tennessee matchup continues to be must-see TV for college football fans and an ad revenue generator for ABC/ESPN.