Mississippi State will open the football season with a nationally televised game for the second straight year and the Bulldogs will host rival Mississippi on a Friday under schedules released by the two schools Wednesday.

The Bulldogs’ 2007 schedule, released Wednesday, will feature a Thursday night game against LSU on Aug. 30 to kick off the season. Mississippi State opened the season with South Carolina on Thursday night last year.

Mississippi State and Ole Miss also moved their game to a Friday for a regional television broadcast. That game will be played Nov. 23, the day after Thanksgiving and televised by either CBS or Lincoln Financial

Five of the 12 teams on the Bulldogs’ schedule were ranked in the Top 10 last year and eight played in bowl games.

The Bulldogs, who were last in the Southeastern Conference last year after finishing 3-9, also will play conference foes Tennessee and Alabama at home.

SEC foes on the road will be Auburn, South Carolina, Kentucky and Arkansas.

Mississippi State’s nonconference schedule includes home games against Division I-AA Gardner-Webb and UAB with road trips to Tulane and West Virginia.

Ole Miss plays seven teams that participated in bowls last season and five teams that were ranked in the Top 10. Defending national champion Florida comes to Oxford on Sept. 22.

The Rebels, who were 4-8 last year, open the season with a nonconference game at Memphis. They also host nonconference opponents Missouri, Louisiana Tech and Northwestern State.

Along with the Gators, the Rebels will host SEC home games against Alabama, Arkansas and LSU. They play at Vanderbilt, Georgia, Auburn and Mississippi State.