Buckley: Planes. Trains. Construction. Dude, Tigers’ expectations are high.
Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield (left) looks over practice on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)
Tim Buckley
Tim is a veteran sportswriter who graduated from CBHS in Memphis and the University of Missouri. He previously covered LSU sports in Baton Rouge, and the University of Louisiana football and basketball for The Daily Advertiser/USA TODAY Network in Lafayette, the NBA’s Utah Jazz for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning for the St. Petersburg Times in Florida, and West Texas State basketball for the Amarillo Globe News in Texas.
So-called Week Zero play starts this Saturday with Florida State facing Georgia Tech in a College Football Classic game in Dublin, Ireland, that airs at 11 a.m. on ESPN. For the Tigers, it’s a sneak peek at their Week 3 opponent, a nationally ranked Seminoles team led by former Memphis coach Mike Norvell.
On Saturday, Aug. 31, what is perhaps the most anticipated season in the university’s football history gets underway. Memphis will open against North Alabama unranked, but not far outside the Top 25 among “others receiving votes.” The Tigers have a bona fide shot at making the newly expanded College Football Playoff, and expectations are as high as FedEx planes fly.
No wonder Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield was amped as he stood in front of some of the program’s most influential big-bucks boosters on Thursday, when a ceremonial groundbreaking for the second phase of renovation at Liberty Stadium was staged.
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