SYRACUSE — The Syracuse Orange football will open with three night games in the four opening weeks.

Kickoff times and television designations for the first four games of the Orange’s slate were announced Thursday, setting up a national television broadcast in each of the team’s four opening games.

Syracuse will open the season at home for the first time since 2018 and host a conference opponent in the opener for the first time since joining the ACC on Saturday, Sept. 3, when Louisville visits the JMA Wireless Dome. The game will be an 8 p.m. kickoff on ACC Network.

The Orange hit the road in week two, when the team travels to UConn on Saturday, Sept. 10. The Orange and Huskies will square off at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The game will be Syracuse’s first matchup with an old Big East foe since 2018.

Week three will feature a noon kickoff on ESPN2 when Purdue visits Syracuse on Saturday, Sept. 17. It’ll be the Boilermakers’ first trip to Syracuse and second meeting between the two schools.

The primetime trend continues in week four, as The Orange host Virginia on Friday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN as the Syracuse looks to win its seventh Friday night game in its last 10 tries.

The Orange football program returns 17 of 22 starters from last year’s team, headlined by one of the best returning players in the nation in running back Sean Tucker and defensive captain Mikel Jones. They’ll be tested by five teams who finished the 2021 season in the top-20 of the final AP Poll.