Media Can Hardly Ignore LSU-Alabama Game
The Alabama-LSU game this weekend easily claims the title for the most anticipated game of the college football season. The number one and number two ranked teams in the country will clash, both hungry for the inside track to the SEC Championship, and hopefully the BCS National Championship. The incredible magnitude of this game is hardly being ignored—especially by the media. An article by the Associated Press on ESPN.com states that roughly 600 media credentials will be approved for Saturday’s game. For a normal game, only about 350 credentials are approved. As a result, media relations staff at Alabama are going to great lengths to accommodate the overflow of photographers, newspaper reporters, and television crewmembers that will be present in Bryant-Denny stadium Saturday night.
News of this game, particularly how much media coverage the game will have, has served as great motivation for each team. Neither coaches nor the players are downplaying how important this game really is. LSU head coach Les Miles states, “…I want the players to enjoy the glare and the light of the big stage…I want them to enjoy the opportunity to play for a big victory. Once I’ve prepared the team and after I feel I’ve done a quality job, I want the players to play with freedom…” Clearly, a victory in this game defines the outcome of this season for both teams. The content in this article reiterates this fact, as the focus is clear and to the point—a victory in this game, for both LSU and Alabama, is critical if they hope to compete for the SEC and National titles this season. The media, all 600 members, will not miss out on this huge SEC contest.
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College Sports and the Media 
Not only will the media not miss out, but millions of sports lovers around the nation and the world will be watching too. I am pretty excited about this game. I guess I could best describe my excitement as a Harry Potter lover waiting for hours on end outside of a movie theater for a midnight premiere of the last movie. I actually thought the game was last weekend, so I was all excited for a great day of college football, first with the GA-FL game, and then the LSU-AL game that night. But then I was told both teams had a bye week, therefore making it the next weekend. Then I had to wait another whole week, but like my dad has always told me, “Patience is a virtue.” (a virtue I don’t have) lol
The game definitely lived up to all the hype, and I am sure all of those media members were glad they were there. After seeing the BCS standings released, there is still a chance that we could see a rematch in the national championship. Alabama would need help from losses by both Stanford and Oklahoma State. Stanford still has Oregon left to play and Oklahoma State has to play Oklahoma. Although both those teams losing is unlikely, there have been crazier things that have happened in college football. So while many say that could’ve decided the national champion, Alabama might have something else to say about that.
I definitely think the game lived up to all of the media hype surrounding the game all week. I was however disappointed by the lack of scoring because it was not as exciting, but that made it even more exciting at the end when it went into overtime. I think that the media played the game up all week and made the game an even bigger deal. Of course, #1 and #2 playing each other is a big deal, but I think the media played a huge part in getting everyone excited about watching the game. With all of the articles coming out throughout the week, people other than fans of LSU and Alabama were sure to be watching the game on Saturday night.