After their 52-7 win over the Mercer Bears in Week 12, Alabama football is heading to Norman for the first time in over 20 years to face the Oklahoma Sooners this Saturday. Kickoff for Alabama-Oklahoma is set for 6:30 p.m. CT. The game can be seen on ABC.
On Monday, ESPN/ABC announced its weekly commentator assignments for Week 13 games. The network’s No. 1 broadcast crew of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will have the call of Crimson Tide vs. Sooners. Holly Rowe will report from the sidelines.
It’s the third time this season that Fowler and Herbstreit will call an Alabama game. The two called the Crimson Tide’s 41-34 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs back on Sept. 28 in Tuscaloosa, as well as Jalen Milroe and teammates’ 42-13 mauling of the LSU Tigers in Alabama’s latest victory lap inside Tiger Stadium on Nov. 9.
Needless to say, those games were much more anticipated on a national level than Alabama’s Week 13 contest against a struggling 5-5 Oklahoma team. So, why is Alabama getting Fowler, Herbstreit and ESPN’s “A-list” treatment this week against the Sooners?
For starters, there’s the fact that Alabama (8-2) is playing for a spot in the College Football Playoff and, should the Crimson Tide win out, a berth in the SEC Championship Game.
For another, the pickings are rather slim on Week 13 games that fall within ESPN/ABC’s broadcast umbrella. Only three games this week involve teams that are both ranked in the Top 25. The biggest of those is the No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers’ (10-0) matchup against the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes (9-1) in Columbus. That game will be televised on Fox in the network’s ‘Big Noon Saturday’ window at 11 a.m. CT.
ESPN pulled out of Big Ten media rights negotiations back in 2022, Sports Business Journal‘s John Ourand reported at the time. Two years prior to that, ESPN and the SEC agreed to a 10-year contract worth a reported $300 million+ annually to make the network (including ABC) the exclusive rights holder of SEC football and men’s basketball games beginning in 2024.
One of the only other matchups featuring two Top 25 teams this week is at Yankee Stadium, where No. 17 Army (9-0) plays No. 6 Notre Dame (9-1) in prime time. Since that game is considered a home game for Notre Dame, it will be televised on NBC, per the school’s longstanding football contract with the network to broadcast (or stream) all Fighting Irish home games.
No. 15 BYU is in Tempe to face No. 22 Arizona State. While one of those teams could reach the College Football Playoff as the Big 12 champion, they simply don’t drive the ratings needle the way Alabama does. So, from the standpoint of which games are most appetizing to ESPN/ABC that are within the network’s broadcast rights for Week 13, none rank as highly as Alabama vs. Oklahoma.
There’s also the rarity of the matchup and the brands of both schools — two of the all-time winningest college football programs in NCAA history. Saturday’s game will mark just the second time that Alabama has ever visited Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The Crimson Tide lost 27-17 to the Sooners in the only other game that Alabama has played in Norman (Sept. 7, 2002).
Oklahoma leads the all-time series vs. Alabama, 3-2-1.
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Alabama rose two spots to No. 7 in this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll following its win over Mercer. Kalen DeBoer and the Crimson Tide were ranked No. 10 in last week’s CFP rankings. The updated CFP rankings will be unveiled Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Oklahoma is coming off a bye week. Brent Venables’ Sooners lost 30-23 to the Missouri Tigers in their last game, Nov. 9 at Faurot Field in Columbia. Oklahoma has lost its last four games against SEC opponents and is 1-5 in conference play.
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