Auburn and Clemson announced they will play on the opening weekend of the 2012 season in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta's Georgia Dome.

No date has been set for the matchup. It will be broadcast on ESPN or ABC.

"These are two of the preeminent brands in the Southeast and in the nation," said Gary Stokan, president and CEO of the Chick-fil-A Bowl. "And as we have promised in our mission of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game to always have the best game that first weekend of college football. We've framed it up as the Daytona 500 of college football."

It's one of two games that night. The other will be Tennessee-N.C. State.

Tickets will be distributed evenly between the teams, with each getting 31,200. The projected per team payout is $2.1 million, which is higher than 22 bowl games last year.

The kickoff game has matched two ranked opponents in each of the first three years. This year's game was between No. 16 LSU and No. 18 North Carolina. Past games include No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 7 Virginia Tech in 2009 and No. 9 Clemson vs. No. 24 Alabama in 2008.

The teams flipped a coin to decide officials. Clemson won, meaning the on-field officials will be from the ACC, with the SEC providing replay officials. As a result, Auburn will be the "home" team.

Tonight is the first game of a home-and-home deal between the schools. They play at Jordan-Hare Stadium tonight and will play at Clemson next season.