EAST LANSING — Michigan State accepted Alabama's request to cancel a home-and-home series in 2016 and 2017 last week because the Crimson Tide's administration had expressed a desire to move one of the games to a neutral site.

A source with knowledge of the contracts involved told MLive that it's possible that had Michigan State not agreed to Alabama's request to cancel the home-and-home football series, the Tide might never have stepped foot in East Lansing -- instead opting to buy out the second game in 2017 after hosting the Spartans in Tuscaloosa in 2016.

According to an ESPN.com report, Alabama athletic director Bill Battle said Thursday the school made the request because of "the uncertainty of the conference football schedule in those years."

One of the major reasons Michigan State wanted to play Alabama was to bring the Crimson Tide to Spartan Stadium, as it will do as part of a home-and-home series with Oregon that begins next season in Eugene.

Former Michigan State and current Alabama coach Nick Saban discussed on his radio show last week how the Tide is more interested in neutral site games moving forward than home-and-home series, as reported by AL.com.

"What are we going to do with all of these neutral-site games that we have gotten into playing one every year, which continues to be an option for us in the future," Saban said. "We play West Virginia next year in Atlanta and Wisconsin the next year in Dallas. And those games our kids really enjoy.

"And from a business standpoint and a financial standpoint, they're much more beneficial than playing home and home with someone because we get paid every year, not just the year we play at home. So it's twice as good from a business standpoint."

In neutral-site games, both teams receive millions of dollars.

"So, even though emotionally, in my heart and for all the good relationships and friends we have at Michigan State, we'd love to play that series,'' Saban said. "It just probably doesn't make much business sense to hang on to it right now relative to some of the other options and question marks that we have relative to the future."

The Spartans, meanwhile, do not have the same interest in neutral site games, as far as playing in Dallas or Atlanta is concerned.

Notre Dame returns to the Michigan State schedule in 2016 and 2017, and the Spartans have a home-and-home series scheduled with Miami (Fla.) in 2020 and 2021.

The Spartans have been linked to potential future home-and-home series with UCLA, Texas A&M and Texas, though no deals have been signed.

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