The first live football game in SEC Network history airs Thursday at 6 p.m. when South Carolina plays host to Texas A&M.But many die-hard college football fans might consider the true kickoff to come two hours earlier, when SEC Nation debuts as the network s pre-game road show.With a team of host Joe Tessitore, analysts Tim Tebow, Paul Finebaum and Marcus Spears, and reporter Kaylee Hartung, the show will broadcast from Gamecock Park across the street from Williams-Brice Stadium.Tessitore, a longtime fixture of ESPN s college football coverage, knows all eyes especially those throughout the southeastern quarter of the country will be on the show. He said it will deliver the goods for the conference s hardcore fans. As long as we put a mirror up to the league and frame it properly, we re in good shape. To me it s the best product in all of sports, Tessitore said. The NFL is bigger, but pound for pound, the SEC is better. It s better in every way the narratives, the commitment, the brand loyalty, the consumer loyalty, the passion of it. It s the most dynamic entity there is in American sports in every way. The strength of the SEC football brand which includes six national championships in the past seven seasons created the need for a television network the conference could call its own.Two weeks into its launch, the network is gradually building its own brand with a number of signature shows like SEC Nation. Hartung, who moved over from the Longhorn Network, said she understands the show inevitably will draw comparisons to one of ESPN s most successful shows, College GameDay with Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso. She said, SEC Nation will be able to carve out its own niche on Saturday s gridiron landscape. We ve just got to be us, Hartung said. We respect that entire cast of characters. We all watch their show. If we can live up to how high they ve set the bar, that will be the greatest victory of all. They ve laid the groundwork. We re just trying to join the best parties in all of college football. Tessitore said he likes the mix of personalities on the show. He likens the banter of Spears, the former LSU standout and NFL player, to that of Charles Barkley. He calls Finebaum, who gained fame as a newspaper columnist and radio talk-show host, the biggest mouth of the South as well as a pot-stirrer. But Tessitore saves the biggest plaudit for Tebow, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at Florida. When you go around the room, you have arguably I don t care what he did in the NFL the most famous athlete of the last 20 years sitting there, an SEC legend and college football legend, Tessitore said.Tebow said his intensity for the game is likely to carry over from the field to the broadcasts. If you know me, you know I get fired up. I m emotional, I m passionate, he said, while citing the atmosphere in the SEC stadiums that he knows well. There s the pageantry and the tradition. That s what this is all about, Tebow added. We re going to show how awesome these environments are. Steve Ackels, coordinating producer at the SEC Network, is ready to shine a spotlight on South Carolina s capital city, where 80,000-strong invade to watch the Gamecocks, who have won 18 consecutive home games. We re going to take in the whole culture of Columbia and showcase what a great college town it is and what the university can put on with the fan base and the tailgating, Ackels said. We will be right in the heart of the pre-game activities throughout the show and throughout our (game) telecast. That s a big part of Hartung s mission. She ll be playing cornhole and meeting fans at the tailgate parties to capture that SEC slice of life. It s about the experience, she said. We want people to understand, whether they ve been to an SEC game before or not, that we can show what it s like to be there as a part of it. Tessitore is anxious to get it all started. Let s just go, he said. Let s talk ball and have fun.