The SEC’s Week 7 kickoff windows landed like a punch to the gut for Alabama fans.
Auburn and Georgia’s Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry is set for 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m.
CT on ABC, ESPN or the SEC Network, and it will go head-to-head with Alabama and Tennessee in the Third Saturday in October matchup. For fans in the state, that’s a brutal overlap right in the middle of two of the league’s biggest games.
The rest of the schedule didn’t do much to soften the blow. Arkansas-Vanderbilt and Kentucky-Oklahoma were handed the night slots, which means three of the SEC’s bottom-tier teams and a Kentucky group that was ranked before dropping out after a road win over South Carolina in Week 5 ended up filling prime time.
As Clint Lamb put it on X: "Putting AUB-UGA and UA-TENN at the same time is… dumb. Throwing those in with a top-25 matchup in MIZZ-OM is even dumber. It was a bad call when they revealed the time windows months ago."
That frustration points to the obvious question: is this all just a push to make people buy multiview or find a bar showing both games?
The cleaner answer is the one fans already know. Money drives these decisions, not convenience.
ABC will air Notre Dame-BYU on October 17 in the night slot, and that game bumped what many would have considered the more natural fit: Tennessee against Alabama on Rocky Top. Since the game is in Provo and not South Bend, ESPN controls the rights to the Big 12-hosted matchup and moved it to primetime. NBC only has Notre Dame’s home games.
When Notre Dame is available, the network apparently wants Notre Dame. The Irish’s opener against Wisconsin drew more than seven million viewers in Week 1, which helps explain the pull.
Still, it’s hard to ignore how little this seems to account for Alabama, one of the country’s most dependable college football markets. Birmingham, for instance, has been the No. 1 highest-rated college football market in the United States for 11 of the last 12 seasons.
And for fans in the Yellowhammer State, the timing annoyance doesn’t stop there. With the UFL having already ditched Protective Stadium, it’s another hit that makes it feel like the state can’t catch a break from the people calling the shots.
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Marcus Freeman Faces A Risky Notre Dame Call Against Stanford
Leonard Moores concussion and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asas thumb injury have put Marcus Freeman in a familiar late-season spot, weighing short-term lineup choices against the bigger picture. Notre Dame is heavily favored against Stanford, which makes this one of those games where availability can matter more than necessity, especially with a tougher BYU matchup looming on the schedule.
Freeman does not need to force either player back if the staff feels there is any real downside, and the current thinking points toward caution. The Irish have enough margin to protect both players if needed, but until the final call is made, there is still some uncertainty around how much either one will be asked to do against Stanford. [Read more 🡒]
Kenny Minchey Just Entered A Notre Dame QB Debate Again
Kenny Mincheys move to Kentucky has already turned into one of those former-Notre Dame storylines that keeps circling back, especially now that he has opened the season with strong play at quarterback for the Wildcats. His development elsewhere only sharpens the conversation in South Bend, where the Irish are keeping an eye on the future of the position and what might come after CJ Carrs expected path toward the 2027 NFL Draft.
Mincheys name is back in the mix because of a recent eligibility rule change that gives him one more year, and that naturally has people wondering whether a return to Notre Dame could even be on the table. There has been no official decision, but the possibility alone is enough to stir debate around a program that never really stops thinking about its quarterback depth chart, especially when a familiar face is playing well somewhere else. [Read more 🡒]
Jadarian Price Just Hit Another Early NFL Setback
Jadarian Prices rookie season in Seattle has already taken a difficult turn. The former Notre Dame running back was placed on injured reserve after a chest injury suffered in Week 2 got worse in practice, and he now has to sit out at least four weeks while the Seahawks work through another setback at a position that tends to demand quick trust from a coaching staff.
Price had already been trying to settle in after a rocky start that included ball-security issues, so the injury only adds another layer of frustration to his opening months in the league. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald spoke about the injury and Prices upbeat approach, but for now the bigger question is how long it will take the rookie to get healthy enough to give Seattle a real look again. [Read more 🡒]