CBS’s contract with the SEC typically gives the network two double-headers a year -- one with games at noon and 3:30 p.m. Eastern time, and another at 3:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. For the past, oh, eight years, the 8 p.m. kickoff has been reserved for the Alabama-LSU game, for obvious reasons.
The last time CBS used its primetime SEC designation for a game other than Tide-Tigers came in 2010, when the network picked Alabama-Florida back when the Nick Saban-Urban Meyer rivalry was still popping.
It looks like that’s set to change this year, though, as CBS announced Tuesday that the Sept. 21 Notre Dame at Georgia game will air at 8 p.m. ET.
We’re going under the lights in Athens. ⁰
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) July 23, 2019
We’ve selected @NDFootball vs. @FootballUGA as our primetime game on September 21st. pic.twitter.com/bqutImz7iF
While leaving open the possibility some backroom negotiations between CBS and ESPN could still find Alabama-LSU on CBS in primetime when the two meet on Nov. 9, clearly CBS has prioritized the chance to put the golden domes under the lights over any other game under its control -- and with good reason. Notre Dame hasn’t played inside an SEC stadium since its trip to Knoxville on Nov. 6, 2004 and isn’t scheduled to return to SEC country until an Oct. 4, 2025 game at Arkansas.
Notre Dame has never played inside Sanford Stadium. The Irish and Bulldogs have played just twice previously, once in the 1981 Sugar Bowl (a 17-10 Georgia win) and once at Notre Dame in 2017 (a 20-19 Georgia win).
Though Alabama has beaten LSU eight consecutive times, viewing interest in the rivalry is still quite strong. The Tide’s 29-0 win over LSU in 2018 drew 11.543 million viewers according to Sports Media Watch, trailing only Michigan at Ohio State for the most-watched game of the regular season.
Clearly, though, CBS executives think Notre Dame at Georgia will be a bigger draw than the Alabama-LSU game.