RICHMOND, Ky. - Coach Roy Kidd's Eastern Kentucky University Colonels, recently picked in the Ohio Valley Conference pre-season poll of the league's head football coaches and sports information directors to win the 2000 conference crown, will be highlighted Tuesday night on Fox Sports Net's new college football preview show, "Southern Sports Tonight".

The debut of this half-hour program, to be seen Monday through Friday in the 7:00 to 7:30 p.m. EDT time slot, begins Monday, August 7^th, with a show, highlighting national champion Florida State, Auburn and Furman.

Tuesday's show includes spotlight reports from Alabama, North Carolina and Eastern Kentucky. Other schools featured the opening week of the show include Florida, Duke, Troy State, Arkansas, North Carolina State and Jackson State.

"Southern Sports Tonight", like its late-night, seven-nights per week predecessor - the "11 PM Regional Sports Report", will deliver live sports news of topical and regional interest to some 8,000,000 fans across Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

In addition to focusing upon the breaking news of the day, "Southern Sports Tonight" provides a more in-depth look at the teams, coaches and athletes across the region, profiling teams and conferences across this seven-state area every night.

Kidd and his EKU Colonels begin "The Drive for 300", Eastern's quest to reach 300 career coaching victories at EKU for the 37-year Colonels' head coach whose record stands at 293-112-8, Wednesday with the official opening of fall drills. The team and coaching staff will meet the media Tuesday morning at the Colonels' annual Media Day activities.

Kidd and his staff will welcome back 15 starters among the team's 33 returning lettermen for the opening of camp Wednesday, including pre-season All-OVC first team players, quarterback Waylon Chapman, tailback Corey Crume and offensive tackle Lewis Diaz, and pre-season honorable mention All-OVC wideout Alex Bannister.

EKU opens "The Drive for 300" schedule Thursday night, Aug. 31, at 7:00 p.m. at Roy Kidd Stadium against Glenville State College.

Season tickets to Eastern's six home games are now available by visiting the EKU Athletics Ticket Office in Room 126 of Alumni Coliseum or by phoning the ticket office at 859-622-2122 or 1-800-262-7493, inside Kentucky.