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Alabama-Western Carolina on Lincoln Financial?

I've expressed my doubts about this before, but it's looking more and more likely that the opener against Western Carolina might be the Lincoln Financial game this year. According to Cecil Hurt:

That leaves Lincoln Financial with a slate of six games. The most compelling, certainly, involve Alabama, which has a new coach whose name is on everyone's lips, and Florida, which is, after all, the defending national champion. The Gators are opening with Western Kentucky.

While no one at LFS would ever say so (in case they end up with one of these games), it's probably fair to assume that the network's interest in the remaining games -- Troy at Arkansas, Louisiana-LaFayette at South Carolina, Eastern Kentucky at Kentucky and Richmond at Vanderbilt -- is less than overwhelming. It's certainly less than the appeal of Alabama-Western Carolina or Florida-Western Kentucky.

Both Alabama and Florida passed on the early kickoff time for their opener last year. This year, SEC commissioner Mike Slive might insist that the opportunity for Labor Day weekend sunstroke be spread equally around the league, making it hard for a school to refuse for a second straight year.

That's a pretty crappy slate to choose from. If the SEC wants to force either Bama or Florida into playing in the morning since both declined last year, Alabama does have one bargaining chip: The Vandy game the following week is already scheduled for the LF game. Looks like we'll still be stuck paying for pay-per-view.