LSU Vs. Alabama TV Schedule Changed Thanks To 'Trade' Between CBS, ESPN, Versus

The LSU Tigers are used to playing home games at night. So much so that when they don't get to play home games under the lights, the AD has to write open letters in attempts to calm the fanbase.

LSU Athletic Director Jo Alleva had to write another one Monday to let Tiger fans know next year's LSU-Alabama game, just like this year's game, will be under the lights.

I am happy to inform you that, during the discussions pertaining to the move of the LSU-Alabama game on November 5 in Tuscaloosa to a night time kickoff, CBS committed its primetime telecast for next year by selecting the LSU vs. Alabama game at night in Tiger Stadium on CBS.

According to USA Today, CBS' Southeastern Conference deal allows it to air one SEC game each season in prime time, which is picked well before the season begins. Because the SEC had already aired its chosen night game (Alabama vs. Florida), they had to do some wheeling and dealing in order to lock up another one.

CBS has aired its one prime-time game — Alabama-Florida — but managed to get the LSU-Alabama moved from 3:30 ET to 8 through what CBS programmer Mike Aresco says was a trade with ESPN, which has an SEC prime-time TV deal.

In order to make things work, Versus even got involved and moved around some future games as well.

So when you get to watch more and more quality college football games in primetime on Saturday, make sure you thank CBS. And ESPN. And Versus. And everyone else with a vested financial interest in the sport, which is basically everyone except the guys actually playing.

For more on the LSU Tigers, visit And The Valley Shook. For more on the Alabama Crimson Tide, visit Roll Bama Roll.