LSU game time set for …

… 2:30 p.m. CDT, as just announced by UA. The game will be the fourth of Alabama’s that landed on the prime CBS television slot.

Of course the Crimson Tide will stay away from the competition field this Saturday as the bye week landed on Halloween Saturday.

According to the Alabama release: Other SEC games to be televised on Saturday, November 7, include South Carolina at Arkansas (11:21 a.m. CDT on the SEC Network), Memphis at Tennessee (6 p.m. CDT on ESPNU), Vanderbilt at Florida (6:15 p.m. CDT on ESPN or ESPN2) and Northern Arizona at Mississippi (6:30 p.m. CDT on CSS).

On a side note, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen also got reprimanded by the SEC today for complaining about officiating.

A few Monday notes

Now that the afternoon news conference and player are interviews have wrapped up, here are a few of the morning developments.

• There was no delay in announcing the Oct. 17 game time for the Crimson Tide’s home date with Tennessee. CBS stepped right up and selected it for the 2:30 p.m. CDT game. The last two game times were announced nearly a week later than normal.
• Linebacker Jarrell Harris will be available to play for the first time this season against South Carolina on Saturday. It was certainly a topic of conversation and expect to read more about that in the coming days.
• Standing outside the football complex with a few other writers, we saw Dont’a Hightower for the first time since his still un-specified knee injury that ended his season. He had on what must have been the biggest knee brace I’ve ever seen. Read more in print about Rolando McClain’s communication with his injured teammate and close friend.
• BamaOnLine is reporting the 21st commitment of the recruiting season gave his word to Alabama. Wide receiver DeAndrew White made it (sorta) official Monday. Read more here.

South Carolina kick time a mystery

Once again, the networks gave Alabama fans a cliffhanger. This time it’s the homecoming game with South Carolina on Oct. 17 that will remain a mystery until Saturday at the earliest.

The SEC announced CBS exercised its “6-day window” for the second straight week. The same thing when down last week for this Saturday’s Ole Miss game.

We do know the two options.

1. CBS picks it fort the 2:30 p.m. CDT slot
2. ESPN gets it for a 6:45 p.m. kick.

Fox Sports joins SEC broadcasting deal

SEC sports will now be seen on Fox Sports as well as CBS and ESPN according a news release just received. Seven SEC football games will air on Fox SportsSouth although which games have not been announced.

Read this portion of the release for more details:

FOX Sports Net (FSN), the nation’s leader in local sports, today announced a new multi-year television rights agreement with ESPN that expands its long-time partnership with the Southeastern Conference (SEC). ESPN secured the rights of Southeastern Conference content in August 2008.

Beginning with the 2009-10 academic year, FSN’s three regional sports networks serving the SEC territory – FOX Sports South, Sun Sports and FOX Sports Southwest – will be the outlets for a minimum of 91 SEC athletic events each year. Events will include:

· Seven live, exclusive football games

· 20 men’s basketball games

· 24 women’s basketball games (16 regular season, eight tournament)

· 16 baseball games (10 regular season, six tournament)

· 24 additional Olympic sporting events (softball, volleyball, soccer, gymnastics)

FSN will distribute these events to more than 24 million cable and satellite households across the SEC coverage area.