When SEC blogger and former CBSSports.com columnist Clay Travis, who runs outkickthecoverage.com, was picking his must-see games of the SEC season he immediately circled Saturday?s game at Kyle Field that pits No. 6 LSU against No. 20 Texas A&M.
What Travis had assumed was that the game would certainly have an afternoon or night start in what was sure to be a game of the week even before the season kicked off.
As he writes on Outkick The Coverage, he was instead given an 11 a.m. start time as ESPN picked between A&M-LSU and Alabama-Tennessee.
?Do you know why ESPN did this??To help protect the ratings of the Texas-Baylor game airing at 7 central on ABC,? Travis said. ?A game that, you guessed it, no?casual fan?in Texas would be watching if LSU at Texas A&M was airing at the exact?same time.
?In fact, the only hope for ratings numbers on Baylor at Texas is the state of?Texas watching.?If even the state of Texas won?t watch?this game, who else is going to watch??
As Travis writes, ?Texas Longhorn protectionism? appears to be the reason for the late start and he is none too happy about the decision.
ESPN does not agree with Travis? accusations and responded to the notion by saying:
?Our philosophy in scheduling is a good game at noon ET is as valuable to us as a good game in primetime. That?s first off, and ratings reflect that. Second, a prime time game is always aimed to feature teams in the national hunt which control their own destiny whenever possible. It?s not always the?best game on the?field.?Our scheduler believes?Alabama on the road at Tennessee has plenty of upset potential ? the Vols?could be a?spoiler like any number of teams were last year.?
To which Travis responded with the fact that LSU too controls their destiny and plays a much tougher team in the No. 20 Aggies.
Either way, Travis has a flight booked and will be in attendance to see the Top 20 matchup as the two teams renew a rivalry dating back to 1899 with LSU holding a 27-20-3 edge when the two meet.
But what do you think, did ESPN drop the LSU-Texas A&M game to an 11 a.m. start time to protect their ratings in the Texas-Baylor matchup? And, was it the right decision to make?
For more of Travis? take on ESPN?s decision, click here.
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