CBS Sports Good Enough for 1-2 Game

Every sports-media outlet in the country has helped CBS Sports this week with an abundance of coverage and pre-game hype for the matchup between No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama on Saturday night.

If viewers cannot find the game on TV, it will not be for a lack of information.

ESPN "embedded" reporters with each team (and, after that term was used with media members covering wars it seems somewhat inappropriate for a college football game anymore, even one of this magniture). Sirius/XM Radio got more mileage than usual out of its Southern-sounding lineup, especially the "Paul Finebaum Show."

Those are just two examples, a sampling of the efforts and hundreds of hours of hype for the game.

Still, what matters most happens once the contest kicks off Saturday night -- and CBS Sports should be up to the task.

While the Verne Lunquist-Gary Danielson on-air tandem might not be the best in college football, and maybe not in my personal top three, it's not far behind.

Lunquist brings a steady sound to games and does his job well. He's not spectacular, but he stays away from big mistakes. Danielson, who at first sounded out of place working Southeastern Conference games when he moved from ESPN to CBS Sports in 2006, knows SEC teams and traditions after a half decade focusing exclusively on that conference.

They work well together and rise to the occasion for big moments in a game. Best of all, they know the game is not about them. They focus on the field, and this game deserves that approach.

Beyond the guys in the booth, CBS Sports has Tracy Wolfson as its sideline reporter, and it can really flex its muscles in terms of football knowledge and reporting online -- with writers such as: Tony Barnhart, who just sounds like Southern football and has a well-earned reputation after years of work in Atlanta and now on radio and TV as well; Dennis Dodd, a talented and tenacious reporter; and Bruce Feldman, who recently moved from ESPN, and even prompted a policy change for that network in regard to as-told-to books. Plus, Feldman was a guiding force behind "Roll Tide/War Eagle," a documentary that will make its debut Tuesday on ESPN.