ESPN has selected network assignments and kick-off times for its Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game and Cowboys Classic telecasts, two of the network’s marquee college football matchups to open the 2011 season, on Saturday, Sept. 3. Both games will begin at 8 p.m. ET and match teams ranked in an ESPN.com early pre-season poll. The Cowboys Classic on ABC will pit No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 4 LSU and the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game on ESPN will feature No. 8 Boise State vs. No. 18 Georgia.

The LSU and Oregon showdown will mark the first meeting between the programs since 1977 and only the fourth overall with LSU winning two of the games. Georgia defeated Boise State in 2005, the only previous meeting between the two schools

This season’s Cowboys Classic is the third of a five-year agreement between ESPN and the Dallas Cowboys to bring a top college football game to the club’s stadium in Arlington, Texas, during the Labor Day holiday weekend. The first two contests featured matchups between ranked teams with No. 20 BYU defeating No. 3 Oklahoma 14-13 in 2009 and No. 6 TCU beating No. 24 Oregon State 30-21 in 2010.

The Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, has also matched ranked teams in each of its first three years with No. 24 Alabama beating No. 9 Clemson 34-10 in 2008, No. 1 Alabama defeating No. 7 Virginia Tech 34-24 in 2009 and No. 16 LSU outscoring No. 18 North Carolina 30-24 in 2010.