LORMAN &045; Alcorn State’s football game at Southeastern Louisiana has been moved up in order for ESPNU to broadcast the game, officials said.

The contest, initially scheduled for Sept. 10, will be played Sept. 8 with a 6:30 p.m. kickoff to accommodate ESPN and its broadcast of teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference through the 2011 season.

After Alcorn officials were unsuccessful in moving the Arkansas-Pine Bluff game up for ESPN, they then pitched the idea to Southeastern Louisiana.

&uot;I think we were still the only school in the conference somewhat displaced by not being on ESPN this year,&uot; Alcorn athletic director Robert Raines said. &uot;It just so happened we were on the road playing Southeastern Louisiana, and we proposed that to them. They were at the right place at the right time. They’ll benefit greatly with the game being on their campus.&uot;

Officials with Southeastern accepted the offer and released the agreement Wednesday. The Lions have played Thursday night games in each of their first two seasons since resurrecting the program, and the game with Alcorn will be the second of two straight Thursday night games at Strawberry Stadium.

The Lions held their first game two seasons ago on a Thursday night.

&uot;First and most importantly, it gave us an opportunity to showcase our great university and football team on a nationally televised broadcast,&uot; Southeastern athletic director Frank Pergolizzi said. &uot;On another note, it helps us avoid a conflict with an LSU home game in Baton Rouge that will hopefully better serve our fans who regularly follow both schools.&uot;

LSU plays at home Sept. 10 against Arizona State.

The contest allows for the Braves to be on the ESPN family of networks this fall under the agreement with it and black college football and basketball that parties agreed to back in December.

According to the agreement, ESPNU will televise a minimum of seven football games &045; primarily on Thursday nights &045; and eight men’s basketball games a year from each conference. ESPN Classic will offer live telecasts of at least one SWAC or MEAC football and men’s basketball game a year.

Raines said efforts to get that Pine Bluff game moved up to Thursday failed to reach fruition due to prior arrangements for the contest. That game is set for Oct. 1 with a 2 p.m. kickoff.

&uot;When you’re trying to work with 10 schools and Saturdays and Thursdays, it’s just difficult to find a date OK with every school,&uot; Raines said. &uot;We were looking at the date in October, but it didn’t quite work out for us. That Saturday is our High School Day, and it’s a day game. We just couldn’t quite make that date work.&uot;

The Thursday night game is a rarity in black college football, something the Braves may have never done in their history. But even if the game at Southeastern is a road game, it’s one of the shortest drives for the team to make this season and the shortest of any non-conference road game.

Then the ESPNU broadcast sweetens the pot that much more. While not on most cable packages, ESPNU can be picked up by DirecTV customers and be available to anyone across the country.

Alcorn has 75 alumni associations across the country.

&uot;When you can get that type of exposure and a game carried across the entire country, it’s hard to buy that kind of exposure,&uot; Raines said. &uot;It brings excitement. People can see Alcorn State University football on TV, and that helps with recruiting. They know you’re getting some major TV exposure.&uot;

The Braves will open the season at home against Grambling Sept. 3.