In a trade with ESPN, CBS gets an extra SEC primetime this season. It already aired Alabama-Florida and normally is allowed one primetime game a year. But with LSU and Alabama ranked 1 and 2 respectively in college football, it would only be natural that CBS would want the game in primetime. As Michael Hiestand of USA Today reports, being able to work out an exchange with ESPN for scheduling for next season, the SEC and CBS have announced that LSU at Alabama on November 5 will air at 8 p.m. ET.
CBS will put a non-SEC game in its regular 3:30 p.m. ET slot. We expect an announcement on that game on Monday from CBS.
Here’s the press release on the November 5 primetime switch.
CBS SPORTS TO BROADCAST NO. 1-RANKED LSU AT NO. 2-RANKED ALABAMA IN PRIME TIME ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5
CBS Sports’ “SEC Game of the Week” on Saturday, Nov. 5 will be broadcast in prime time at 8:00 PM, ET with *No. 1-ranked LSU taking on No. 2-ranked Alabama.
The CBS Television Network’s lead college football announce team of Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson will call the action live from Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Tracy Wolfson serves as lead reporter.
In addition, CBS Sports will stream LSU-Alabama live on CBSSports.com.
*AP Rankings as of 10/23/11
That will do it.
UPDATE, 6:15 p.m.: Michael Hiestand of USA Today reports that CBS will slot the Army-Air Force game at 3:30 p.m. on November 5. Versus which was slated to air Army-Air Force will now pick up the Colorado State-Texas Christian on November 19 which was originally scheduled for CBS Sports Network.
So the schedule on November 5 for CBS looks like this:
Army at Air Force — CBS, 3:30 p.m.
LSU at Alabama — CBS, 8 p.m.
And come the weekend of November 5, I’ll have the updated College Football Viewing Picks which will reflect these changes.
