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Under its current contract, CBS gets the first pick of SEC games each week. On October 12, they had a juicy top ten matchup there for the taking, between two schools in LSU and Florida who detest one another. Even if Florida drops this weekend’s game against Auburn, you’d still be looking at a legitimate contender for the East and an undefeated team from the West.
Alas, the opportunity to grab all of Alabama’s viewers, those who watch to see them win and the many more who watch in hopes they that lose, plus the big Texas markets, proved too tantalizing. As Cecil notes, since CBS is virtually guaranteed to take Alabama’s games vs. LSU and Auburn, this means that Tennessee is likely to get the light show.
The CBS selection of Alabama-Texas A&M takes a 2:30 UA kickoff against Tennessee off the board At this point, that looks like a (gasp!) night game but given the way things go, I wouldn’t rule out 11 a.m.
— Cecil Hurt (@CecilHurt) September 30, 2019
Surely they wouldn’t play that game at breakfast, right?
Surely.
In any case, if you ever wondered whether the networks were more concerned with showing the best football or grabbing the best TV markets, this should put any questions to rest. Alabama is probably going to be favored by close to 20 points in College Station, and the Aggies have looked fairly subpar for most of the season. LSU vs. Florida will kick at 7pm local time, on ESPN, giving the Bayou Bengals the night game that they so desire.
If only the SEC office wasn’t in Birmingham, eh?
Roll Tide.