Back in 2011, CBS made a largely unprecedented move with the Alabama-LSU game.

Its broadcast rights deal with the SEC allowed for one primetime game -- a slot it used on Alabama’s game at Florida on Oct. 1 of that year -- but a new monster was looming. The Crimson Tide’s home game with LSU was shaping into a No. 1 vs. No. 2 game dubbed the Game of the Century.

Since the network already had first pick for SEC games every week, it wasn’t a matter of if it would air the game. They wanted to control the when. So, in a unique move, CBS negotiated a deal with ESPN to allow that 2011 Alabama-LSU game to be moved to primetime.

Move ahead eight years, and a similar storm is brewing since CBS used its primetime game in Week 4 of this season when then-No. 7 Notre Dame played at then-No. 3 Georgia.

Only this time, it doesn’t appear CBS will be pursuing any discussions to make a trade similar to the 2011 deal that moved Alabama-LSU to a night game.

With three weeks until kickoff in Bryant-Denny Stadium, it’s unlikely the game will be moved to a primetime kickoff on CBS, AL.com has learned.

Should there be interest from CBS to negotiate a deal with ESPN, the network would have to contact the SEC office to initiate that discussion. To date, no such contact has been made.

CBS still holds the first selection of league games, and though official TV/kickoff pairings are announced 12 days in advance, it’s a virtual lock that Alabama-LSU will be the 2:30 p.m. CT game Nov. 9. The only other league game that day between currently-ranked teams involves No. 22 Missouri at No. 10 Georgia.

This would be the first time since 2010 that Alabama-LSU was played outside of primetime. CBS used that one yearly night slot every year since on the Tide vs. Tigers.

Last year’s game had 11.54 million viewers -- up 72 percent from the 2017 game’s 6.73 million viewers, according to sportsmediawatch.com. The Georgia-Notre Dame game had a viewership of 9.29 million.

The 2011 Alabama-LSU game averaged 20 million viewers on a night LSU won, 9-6 in overtime.

The last time Alabama played an afternoon game against LSU in Tuscaloosa was 2009 when Julio Jones’ scored the winning touchdown on a short pass from Greg McElroy taken up the sideline 73 yards.

After a 24-21 loss in Baton Rouge the following year, every Alabama game with LSU since has been played in primetime. That 2011 game was also the last time LSU beat the Tide with the last eight wins going to Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide.

The deal to move that 2011 game to CBS primetime was made with conference realignment still up in the air. A quote from ESPN’s then-senior vice president of college sports programing, Burke Magnus in a 2011 AL.com story outlined what ESPN got in return for ceding the primetime slot to CBS’ executive vice president Mike Aresco.

"We'll get some scheduling advantages in a couple particular instances that will help us and Mike will manage through that a little differently," said Magnus, now ESPN’s executive vice president, programming and scheduling. "(The future picks) is as much related to not knowing what the schedule is going to look like for Texas A&M next year as much as anything."

Alabama and LSU are both undefeated entering Week 8 with only one ranked opponent between the two before Nov. 9. The Tide plays Tennessee this week and Arkansas the following Saturday (both teams have losing records) are the Tide’s only two night games of the season to this point.

LSU plays at Mississippi State on Saturday before No. 11 Auburn comes to Tiger Stadium on Oct. 26. Alabama and LSU have open dates before the Nov. 9 game.

Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.