Lane Kiffin wants to know why LSU-Alabama kickoff isn't scheduled for prime time

LSU and Alabama will play next weekend as Lane Kiffin takes on the Crimson Tide for the first time as the Tigers' head coach.

Both teams have a bye this weekend, but the game will kick off next week at 3:30 p.m. ET, or 2:30 p.m. locally in Baton Rouge.

Kiffin was asked Wednesday about what he thought about the rivalry game getting the mid-afternoon slot.

"I was like, well, if someone thinks the SEC wants us to win this year after what's been going on, they must have just been on Mars the last four months," Kiffin said in his Wednesday press conference. "So I guess when I look at it that way, I'm not surprised. "Especially in 16 years, this game has been at night here all the time. I never even considered that it wouldn't be at night. So I guess that's probably naive of me."

"I was like, well, if someone thinks the SEC wants us to win this year after what's been going on, they must have just been on Mars the last four months," Kiffin said in his Wednesday press conference. "So I guess when I look at it that way, I'm not surprised.

"Especially in 16 years, this game has been at night here all the time. I never even considered that it wouldn't be at night. So I guess that's probably naive of me."

The last time these teams played a non-night game was in 2019, with a 2:42 p.m. CT kickoff, but it was held in Tuscaloosa. Kiffin is correct that the last time this rivalry game had a non-night kickoff in Baton Rouge was in 2010, when it kicked off at 2:30 p.m. CT locally.

While LSU vs. Alabama will be one of the biggest games of the week on Nov. 7, the time slot may have been chosen so it doesn't compete directly with another marquee matchup, Miami at Notre Dame, set for a 7:30 p.m. start time on NBC. LSU vs. Alabama will be aired on ABC.

LSU and the SEC butting heads dominated the offseason. The Tigers attempted to add Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris to the roster, even though both players had left their college programs and participated in NFL training camps.

The contention between the two sides grew to the point that, if Wright and Harris played for the Tigers, the SEC would vote to expel LSU from the conference.

Wright and Harris were never added to the Tigers roster, but the school and conference remain at odds, this time over men's basketball. LSU argues that RJ Luis Jr. should be eligible to play for the program after going undrafted. Luis did sign a two-way contract, but did not appear in any G League games, and an injunction was granted allowing him to return to the Tigers.

These fights between the school and the conference are what Kiffin is referring to, and it seems the LSU head coach believes the league is using this afternoon kickoff as a pseudo-punishment.