Syracuse, N.Y. -- The Syracuse-Clemson football game earned the marquee television position for Week 3 of the college football season and will be ABC’s Saturday Night Football broadcast on Sept. 14.

This year’s SNF games will be broadcast at 7:30 p.m.. ESPN will announce its first three Saturday Night Football broadcasts of the season on Wednesday.

The appearance on Saturday Night Football, which has been broadcast since 2006, will be just the second time in Syracuse’s football history that it will play in ABC’s marquee slot. Syracuse’s only other appearance on Saturday Night Football came in 2014, a 31-15 loss to Notre Dame at Met Life Stadium.

The nationally-prominent television slot is an indication that ABC/ESPN view the game as one of the day’s marquee options and the placement should only increase the chances of ESPN College GameDay visiting Syracuse’s campus for a football game for the first time.

The game seems like one of, if not the clear, best candidate for GameDay on paper. Both teams appear likely to be ranked in the national polls when the season begins, with the Tigers a very likely candidate to be No. 1.

Syracuse finished 10-3 last season and would have gone to the Orange Bowl if the game wasn’t in the College Football Playoff semifinal rotation. The Orange is the last team to beat Clemson in the regular-season, winning 27-24 victory in Clemson’s last visit to the Carrier Dome in 2017. The Orange was also one of Clemson’s toughest games last year, falling 27-23 on the road. The Tigers went on to become undefeated national champions.

Other Week 3 games that would seem to be attractive candidates include Oklahoma at UCLA, Pittsburgh at Penn State, Alabama at South Carolina and Iowa at Iowa State.

The game is Syracuse’s home opener, as well as its homecoming game. Syracuse has already sold out its single-game allotment for the game, although seats are still available through three-game packs (a very limited number remain) and season-ticket packages. The lowest price for a ticket on the secondary market is currently $69 at VividSeats.com.

The list of teams that will be showcased on Saturday Night Football during the first three weeks includes many of the sport’s elite programs. Saturday Night Football’s opening week matchup will be a neutral site game between Oregon and Auburn in Arlington, Texas. Its second game will be LSU at Texas.

Contact Chris Carlson anytime: E-mail | Twitter | 315-412-1639