You can bet that if Steve Spurrier wasn’t involved, South Carolina’s football home-opener against Central Florida at 7:30 p.m. Thursday wouldn’t be a likely candidate for television. And the game would be played on a Saturday as originally scheduled.

But Spurrier’s return to the college ranks as coach of the Gamecocks stirred up a lot of people, especially many members of the media.

ESPN (cable channel 26, HD channel 950) reacted quickly and got the game moved to Thursday so it could show Spurrier’s debut at USC to the rest of the country. And they’re making a party out of it.

Coverage will begin at 7 p.m. with the “College Football GameDay Special” from Columbia with host Chris Fowler and analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Trev Alberts and Mark May. Country performers Big & Rich and Cowboy Troy also will be on hand at the State Fairgrounds across the street from Williams-Brice Stadium.

In addition, Rece Davis will anchor “SportsCenter” segments offering tidbits about South Carolina during the 6 and 11 p.m. broadcasts. One of the segments will include an interview with Spurrier. It’s part of the 50-states-in-50 days “SportsCenter Across America” summer tour.

Mike Tirico and Herbstreit will call the game, and Erin Andrews will report from the sidelines. The telecast will be replayed at midnight on ESPNU, which is not available on cable in South Carolina. It is on DirecTV channel 609.”

The game also will be replayed at 3 a.m. on ESPN.

Gamecocks on the air. As promised last week here is the lineup of stations for USC’s football radio network:

Abbeville, WZLA-FM 92.9; Aiken/Edgefield, WKSX-FM 92.7; Allendale, WDOG-FM, 83.5; Anderson, WRIX-FM 103.1; Camden, WPUB-FM 102.7; Charleston, WNKT-FM 107.5, WTMA-AM 1250; Chesterfield, WVSZ-FM 107.1; Columbia, WTCB-FM 106.7, WISW-AM, 1320; Florence, WWFN-FM 100.1; Gainesville, Fla., WBXY-FM 99.5; Gaffney, WAGI-FM 105.3, WEAC-AM 1500; Georgetown, WGTN-AM 1400; Greenville, WYRD-AM 1330; Greenwood, WLMA-AM 1350; Hilton Head, WGZO-FM, 103.1; Lancaster, WRHM-FM, 107.1; Laurens, WLBG-AM 860; Manning, WYMB-AM 920; Myrtle Beach, WRNN-FM 99.5; Newberry, WKDK-AM 1240; Orangeburg, WGFG-FM 105.1; Rock Hill, WRHM-FM 94.3; Spartanburg, WORD-AM 950; Sumter, WIBZ-FM 95.5; Union, WBCU-AM 1460; Walterboro, WALI-FM 93.7

The local pre-game show will begin at 4:30 p.m. on Columbia’s WTCB. The USC network pregame show begins at 6 p.m.

The other Gamecocks. Furman’s Paladins open their season at 8 p.m. Thursday on the road against the Gamecocks of Jacksonville State, Ala. The game will be televised live on College Sports Television (cable channel 150).

One for the Tigers. The Clemson-Virginia football showdown played Oct.11, 2003, will be in the “College Flash Classics” spotlight at 1 p.m. Sunday on Fox Sports Net (cable channel 31). The Tigers won a 30-27 thriller in overtime. It will be repeated at noon Wednesday.

Football previews. FSN will have a marathon football preview of the ACC Coastal Division at 7 p.m. Saturday. The three-hour block will feature Virginia Tech, Miami, Virginia, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Duke. The SEC Eastern Division will be previewed at 2 p.m. Sunday on FSN with looks at Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Look for the other division previews next weekend.