Lane Kiffin didn’t wait long to stir the pot Wednesday when Alabama-LSU’s kickoff time came up on the SEC media teleconference.
For the first time since LSU beat Alabama in Baton Rouge in 2010, the Tigers and Crimson Tide will square off in the afternoon. The Nov. 7 matchup in Tiger Stadium is set for 2:30 p.m. CT, ending a stretch of night games in Baton Rouge that began in 2012 and helped turn the rivalry into one of the sport’s biggest regular-season events for a while.
Kiffin said the announcement caught him off guard.
“I never even thought that or considered that it wouldn’t be at night,” Kiffin said.
Then he took the conversation in a more conspiratorial direction, saying he had been joking with a senior LSU media relations staffer about what might be behind the change.
“When people are saying, well, obviously the SEC wanted to change this year from how it had been to, you know, to give LSU less advantage of, obviously, how well LSU plays at night, and how intimidating it is to play here.”
“People,” are saying that, Kiffin said.
He then piled on with another line that clearly pointed to the ongoing legal fight between LSU and the SEC.
“And I was like,” Kiffin continued, “well someone thinks the SEC wants us to win this year, after what’s been going on, they must have just been on Mars the last four months, so, I guess when I look at it that way, I’m not surprised.”
Kiffin’s joke only works if you’re willing to ignore how kickoff windows are actually determined. The SEC does not control them. ESPN does.
And on Nov. 7, there isn’t a clear Alabama-LSU path to the spotlight. No.
1 Miami and No. 5 Notre Dame are already set for a 6:30 p.m.
CT primetime slot on NBC, and the ESPN/ABC goal is obvious: spread the biggest games around and get the most eyes possible. In that setup, pushing Alabama-LSU into the afternoon gives the network a better chance to maximize its SEC investment without going head-to-head with a national showcase game.
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