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James Davis (1) and Clemson found out Tuesday their season-opener against Alabama on Aug. 30 in the Georgia Dome will be televised by ABC and will be an 8 p.m. kickoff.

CLEMSON — Even before the 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl kicked off last December Gary Stokan, President of the Chick-fil-A Bowl committee, said he wanted an early season football game, preferably between ACC and SEC schools, to be held in the Georgia Dome in hopes it would bring even more national exposure to the city of Atlanta as well as proving the city and his organization can handle a BCS-type event.

Stokan has seemingly gotten his wish to do all of that and then some. The ACC officially announced Tuesday that ABC will televise Clemson’s Aug. 30 season-opener against Alabama from the Georgia Dome in primetime beginning at 8 p.m.

This is the first meeting between Clemson and Alabama, two Southern heavyweights in college football, since 1975. That year, the 14th-ranked Crimson Tide defeated Clemson 45-0. The Tigers finished that season 2-9, while Alabama went on to finish No. 3 in the final Associated Press Top 20.

Thirty-three years later, Clemson will enter the game as a consensus top 10 pick, while Alabama is coming off a 7-6 season under second-year head coach Nick Saban. Alabama leads the all-time series 11-3, but Clemson has a 3-2 mark against the Crimson Tide on neutral fields.

“The Alabama game in the Georgia Dome will be one of national importance and should bring considerable exposure to our program,” Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said earlier this year. “It will be a great challenge for our team right from the get-go and it will create a sense of urgency for our players during the off-season.”

The Alabama game will mark the first time Clemson has opened the season with a neutral-site game since 1904 when Clemson defeated Alabama 18-0 in Birmingham. It will be the first time Clemson has opened the season away from home since 2002 when Clemson opened the year at Georgia.

Clemson has won each of its last four season-opening games. The Alabama game will be Clemson’s third straight game against an SEC team. Clemson closed the 2007 regular season with a two-point win over South Carolina, then dropped an overtime decision to Auburn, 23-20, in the 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl.

The ACC also announced Tuesday that the Sept. 6 game versus The Citadel will have a 3:30 p.m. kickoff, while the Clemson vs. N.C. State game on Sept. 13 will start at noon. The Clemson vs. The Citadel game will not appear on live television, but it will have a live internet showing on ESPN 360. Raycom will televise The Clemson vs. N.C. State game.

Earlier this year, the ACC announced the (Thursday) Oct. 9 Clemson at Wake Forest game would will have a 7:30 p.m. start and will be shown on ESPN. The kickoff for Clemson’s other eight games this year will be announced 12 days prior to kickoff.

The Alabama game will mark the second straight year Clemson will play a nationally televised game on the opening weekend of college football. Last year, Clemson played host to Florida State on Labor Day evening and the game recorded a 5.03 rating, the highest-rated college game on that opening weekend.

This year’s game with Alabama will mark the first time Clemson has played in ABC’s 8 p.m. nationally televised Saturday night game.