The time slots for the SEC's Week 7 slate do not favor college football fans in the state of Alabama and their viewing habits.
The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry game between Auburn and Georgia will air on ABC, ESPN, or the SEC Network at 3:30 pm ET/2:30 pm CT, the same time as the Third Saturday in October matchup between Alabama and Tennessee.
Deepening the wound are the two duds that were chosen for the night slots: Arkansas-Vanderbilt and Kentucky-Oklahoma. That's three of the conference's bottom-rung teams and a Wildcats squad that just went from ranked to unranked despite beating South Carolina on the road in Week 5.
Is this just an elaborate ad to get everyone to purchase a form of multiview or go to a public space showing both major SEC rivalry games most pertinent to the state of Alabama?
Unfortunately, there's a clearer answer that speaks to how much money runs this sport over caring about fans.
ABC is broadcasting Notre Dame-BYU on October 17 in the night slot
The ABC night slot that should've logically gone to the Crimson Tide and Volunteers battling on Rocky Top instead went to Notre Dame-BYU.
Because the game is in Provo and not South Bend, ESPN owns the rights to the Big 12-hosted matchup and flexed it to primetime. NBC only has the rights to Notre Dame's home games.
When you get the chance to broadcast the Fighting Irish, you have to do it, apparently. Notre Dame's opener with Wisconsin pulled in over seven million viewers during Week 1.
It just feels like there should've been consideration for the state of Alabama, which is one of the most loyal college football-viewing markets in the country.
Birmingham, for example, ranked as the No. 1 highest-rated college football market in the United States for 11 of the last 12 seasons.
Combined with the way the UFL ditched Protective Stadium, the Yellowhammer State can't seem to catch a break from the powers that be.
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