re: ESPN - Alabama not happy with start times - UPDATE - Gus takes shots at Alabama

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Works for me - black out the game and play it at 6 Shula era style!

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In the big TV contract game "inventory" is the key word.

All schools should have an option to have a non-televised night game on their schedule, especially when it comes to OoC games .... but TV dictates more and more and more inventory in order to meet $15 billion dollar multi year contracts and conference specific networks.

SC has been averaging 1 night game a year and most of those over the past couple of decades have been in colder weather, which is just madness IMHO.

Night games also serve to support local economies.

With all of that typed I am the first to admit that winning teams get better slots and prime time Saturday games are limited availability. Figure, among all the outlets, there may be what ... eight prime time slots per Saturday? Ten? Prime Time defined as between 2:30 PM and 7PM start times locally .... or let's say even 8PM locally.

Not counting the NBC-Notre Dame marriage you've got four major conference networks, the four lesser sports networks plus three ESPN networks and ABC and CBS.

Not a lot of room for lesser matchups thus the two week window options.

Bama has become a victim of their own success to some degree because people have grown tired of seeing them pound defenseless OoC opponents. And the SEC almost always offers better matchups among at least one ranked team especially when compared to other conferences with weaker fan bases.