How to watch and time for Florida volleyball vs Nebraska in Spike Under the Lights

The lights of an early season volleyball tournament are always bright.

This season, the lights are absolutely blazing to start the season for Florida volleyball.

In Texas – where everything is bigger. In an NFL stadium for the first time in collegiate volleyball history. And not just any NFL stadium, but the home of the mighty Dallas Cowboys – the biggest brand in American sports.

Will this be a watershed moment in college volleyball? Can this game set a women’s sports attendance record?

All these questions will be on the line when the Gators play in the inaugural Spike Under the Lights in Arlington on Thursday evening. Preseason No. 17 UF is one of four teams to go at it, along with No. 1 Nebraska, No. 10 Penn State and No. 11 SMU.

The Gators and Cornhuskers begin the action, followed by the Nittany Lions vs. the Mustangs. The winners then meet in the championship bout.

What time is Florida volleyball vs. Nebraska in Spike Under the Lights?

UF and UN begin at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT from AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Penn State and SMU meet at 9 p.m., and the championship is set for 10 p.m.

What channel is Florida volleyball vs. Nebraska in Spike Under the Lights?

• TV channel: TNT
• Streaming options: Sling TV

TNT will broadcast Thursday's Spikes Under The Lights volleyball event, with a streaming option being Sling TV.

What is the format of the Spike Under the Lights?

Since each match needs to fit into an hour window, the matches will follow a different format than a conventional match. Sets one and two will be first to 21, win by two. Set three, if necessary, will be to 15.

What is the payout for the Spike Under the Lights?

This is the biggest storyline of the event. In the vein of the Players Era tournaments in college basketball, the money will go to NIL. Each team receives $200,000 for competing, and the victor of the whole event earns an additional $200,000. That creates the much discussed one-million-dollar pot. It remains unclear how Florida will use the $200,000.

What to know about teams in Spike Under the Lights

Each squad there holds a connection to Florida. Penn State, led by the duo of Kennedy Martin and Alexis Stuckey, is the most obvious one. That’s because that duo led the Gators two and three years ago. It is UF’s first time facing PSU since Martin transferred in the 2025 off-season and Stuckey in the 2026 off-season.

SMU ended Florida’s season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season in a signature win for the Mustang program. Nebraska doesn’t hold much relationship with the Gators, but the Cornhuskers are darlings of the sport and a win over them – even in an exhibition – could be a major moment for the young Gators.

Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at nram@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1, Instagram @Ramreporter and Facebook Noah Ram - Reporter.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: How to watch and time for Florida volleyball vs Nebraska in Spike Under the Lights