OT: D1

[ctrabs74]

So Pitt hosting Notre Dame, given the factors I laid out above, is not a good option?

You'll have to really explain that one to me. Again, I think the entire topic of Gameday is overplayed in the big picture (not just this week). But how come it's cool for every other program to get national attention even in the slightest capacity, but the second Pitt is talked about in any positive manner, people have to come out of the woodwork to suggest they aren't deserving?

Compared to Oklahoma at Alabama? Yes.

[IUP24]

Outside of the SEC games, there aren't exactly a lot of good options.

So Pitt hosting Notre Dame, given the factors I laid out above, is not a good option?

You'll have to really explain that one to me. Again, I think the entire topic of Gameday is overplayed in the big picture (not just this week). But how come it's cool for every other program to get national attention even in the slightest capacity, but the second Pitt is talked about in any positive manner, people have to come out of the woodwork to suggest they aren't deserving?

[ctrabs74]

I'm curious where you would have chosen otherwise. College Gameday hasn't been to Pittsburgh in 20 years (also a Pitt/ND game). ND has won 7 straight. Pitt has won 5 straight and has a great story with a true freshman QB. It's essentially a CFP elimination game for ND (and Pitt for an at-large spot). I'm not sure there's a game around the country with greater stakes this weekend. The two other ranked on ranked SEC games are meaningless football games (all of those teams are likely in the CFP barring something unforeseen happening in November).

The argument about expanding the CFP was "more games matter for more teams" because of access to the CFP. So when you have a game with a school like Pitt (largely an afterthought and ignored by the national media) where there are significant stakes in November, I think this is the perfect landing spot for College Gameday.

Outside of the SEC games, there aren't exactly a lot of good options.

[Ship69]

Someone is going to lose the Duke-Virginia game and someone is going to lose the Pitt-Georgia Tech game. And someone will likely lose a game they shouldn’t as none of these teams are world beaters. It’ll work itself out. Pitt’s finish to the season is brutal. If they can find a way to win those last two ACC games, I have no doubt they’ll wind up in the championship game, but that’s going to be really tough to do.

Yeah, that's hardly a murderers' row at the top of the ACC. The collapse of Clemson and Florida State haven't exactly helped that league. Penn State and Wisconsin going into the toilet has weakened the B1G, but their top few teams are much stronger than the ACC. No argument that the SEC is the deepest league this season.

[IUP24]

OH MY GOD!!!! ESPN COLLEGE GAMEDAY HAS DONE NON-SEC GAMES FOR THE LAST THREE WEEKS!? THEY'RE BREAKING OUT THE PITCHFORKS ACROSS THE SEC (except in Fayette-nam, Lexington and Starkville).

I'll be honest, out of all the games the Four Letter Nitwits chose for Gameday, Domers at Fail to Pitt wouldn't have been my first choice. But, I guess said Four Letter Nitwits are trying to shed that "SEC Bias" by putting lipstick on a pig.

I'm curious where you would have chosen otherwise. College Gameday hasn't been to Pittsburgh in 20 years (also a Pitt/ND game). ND has won 7 straight. Pitt has won 5 straight and has a great story with a true freshman QB. It's essentially a CFP elimination game for ND (and Pitt for an at-large spot). I'm not sure there's a game around the country with greater stakes this weekend. The two other ranked on ranked SEC games are meaningless football games (all of those teams are likely in the CFP barring something unforeseen happening in November).

The argument about expanding the CFP was "more games matter for more teams" because of access to the CFP. So when you have a game with a school like Pitt (largely an afterthought and ignored by the national media) where there are significant stakes in November, I think this is the perfect landing spot for College Gameday.

[IUP24]

Someone is going to lose the Duke-Virginia game and someone is going to lose the Pitt-Georgia Tech game. And someone will likely lose a game they shouldn’t as none of these teams are world beaters. It’ll work itself out. Pitt’s finish to the season is brutal. If they can find a way to win those last two ACC games, I have no doubt they’ll wind up in the championship game, but that’s going to be really tough to do.

I've watched a lot of ACC football this year. The favorable thing for Pitt is that the games against GT and Miami, while both extremely challenging games, look vastly different now than they did 6 weeks ago at this spot on the schedule.

Miami is good, and they're very, very stout up front and on defense. But the collective whole of that group is quitting in November (like they traditionally do down there once they get 1-2 losses). Carson Beck is not playing very good football either.

GT is a strong team, but their strengths on offense play right into how Pitt generally likes to play defense. There's this common misconception that mobile QBs kill Pitt, but they mostly never do. They stop offenses that run a ton of QB power like what GT does with Haynes King. And GT's defense is not that strong.

I'm certainly not saying Pitt will win one, or both, of these remaining two ACC games, but I have a far different outlook on both opponents now than I did in early October.

[Chuck Norris]

And they're in a four-way battle for two spots in the ACC title game along with Georgia Tech, Virginia and SMU (okay, who had that on their 2025 College Football Bingo Card?). If you factor in Duke, who is at 4-1, then theoretically, you have five teams battling for two spots in Charlotte. I didn't think I'd be analyzing potential ACC championship game opponents, but just for laughs, here we go:

Duke has three ACC games left: Virginia, at North Carolina (comma) Chapel Hill and Wake Forest.
Georgia Tech has two conference games left (at BC, vs. Pitt) before closing out the season against Georgia.
After Pitt faces Notre Dame, the Panthers are at Georgia Tech and host Miami.
SMU is off this week before hosting Louisville and closing the season at California (comma) Berkeley.
Virginia is at Duke this Saturday before an off week and their season finale at home against Virginia Tech.

Among the five teams who are still in the ACC title game picture:

Duke lost to Georgia Tech 28-17 and face Georgia Tech on Saturday. Then again, it's hard to take the Dookies seriously when you lost to Illinois, Tulane and UConn (yes, that UConn, whose football team hasn't been relevant for years).
Georgia Tech only has their win over Duke, but has a chance to gain a tie-breaker over Pitt with a win next week. Yet, they lost last week to 5-4 North Carolina State.
Pitt's only ACC loss was to Louisville and have yet to face any of the teams they're tied with. They also lost in overtime to Hillbilly High, who's 4-6.
Neither SMU nor Virginia have faced any of the other three teams involved in the tie (both teams suffered their lone loss in ACC play to *checks notes* Wake Forest?!?!). Virginia also lost to NC State, but that was a non-conference game because ... reasons. SMU's other two losses were 35-24 loss at 6-3 TCU and a 48-45 double overtime loss at home to Baylor after choking away a 14 point lead with 8 minutes to play.

Good luck trying to figure out the ACC championship game participants.

Someone is going to lose the Duke-Virginia game and someone is going to lose the Pitt-Georgia Tech game. And someone will likely lose a game they shouldn’t as none of these teams are world beaters. It’ll work itself out. Pitt’s finish to the season is brutal. If they can find a way to win those last two ACC games, I have no doubt they’ll wind up in the championship game, but that’s going to be really tough to do.

[ctrabs74]

Nothing wrong with Gameday choosing this game. Notre Dame is probably playing as well as anybody, but likely can’t afford another loss so it’s a massive game for them. And sure, Pitt gives people plenty of reason to believe they won’t step up here, but they’re 7-2 and the ACC Championship game and playoff are there to be had right now, even if they lose to ND.

Gameday can go back to an SEC game next week. It’ll be ok.

And they're in a four-way battle for two spots in the ACC title game along with Georgia Tech, Virginia and SMU (okay, who had that on their 2025 College Football Bingo Card?). If you factor in Duke, who is at 4-1, then theoretically, you have five teams battling for two spots in Charlotte. I didn't think I'd be analyzing potential ACC championship game opponents, but just for laughs, here we go:

Duke has three ACC games left: Virginia, at North Carolina (comma) Chapel Hill and Wake Forest.
Georgia Tech has two conference games left (at BC, vs. Pitt) before closing out the season against Georgia.
After Pitt faces Notre Dame, the Panthers are at Georgia Tech and host Miami.
SMU is off this week before hosting Louisville and closing the season at California (comma) Berkeley.
Virginia is at Duke this Saturday before an off week and their season finale at home against Virginia Tech.

Among the five teams who are still in the ACC title game picture:

Duke lost to Georgia Tech 28-17 and face Georgia Tech on Saturday. Then again, it's hard to take the Dookies seriously when you lost to Illinois, Tulane and UConn (yes, that UConn, whose football team hasn't been relevant for years).
Georgia Tech only has their win over Duke, but has a chance to gain a tie-breaker over Pitt with a win next week. Yet, they lost last week to 5-4 North Carolina State.
Pitt's only ACC loss was to Louisville and have yet to face any of the teams they're tied with. They also lost in overtime to Hillbilly High, who's 4-6.
Neither SMU nor Virginia have faced any of the other three teams involved in the tie (both teams suffered their lone loss in ACC play to *checks notes* Wake Forest?!?!). Virginia also lost to NC State, but that was a non-conference game because ... reasons. SMU's other two losses were 35-24 loss at 6-3 TCU and a 48-45 double overtime loss at home to Baylor after choking away a 14 point lead with 8 minutes to play.

Good luck trying to figure out the ACC championship game participants.

[ctrabs74]

College Gameday headed to Pittsburgh for the Pitt-Notre Dame game. A prime time kickoff would’ve been fun, but considering that Alabama-Oklahoma and Georgia-Texas are on the schedule this week, getting Gameday is pretty cool.

Looks like I’ll have to do a free trial of another tv provider should Google and Disney still not be able to remove their heads from their collective posteriors.

OH MY GOD!!!! ESPN COLLEGE GAMEDAY HAS DONE NON-SEC GAMES FOR THE LAST THREE WEEKS!? THEY'RE BREAKING OUT THE PITCHFORKS ACROSS THE SEC (except in Fayette-nam, Lexington and Starkville).

I'll be honest, out of all the games the Four Letter Nitwits chose for Gameday, Domers at Fail to Pitt wouldn't have been my first choice. But, I guess said Four Letter Nitwits are trying to shed that "SEC Bias" by putting lipstick on a pig.

[IUP24]

Sorry for the double quote but could you link the article? Based on the list of GameDay locations on Wikipedia I’m willing to meet you in the middle and say that GameDay has gone through two periods of repetitiveness/concentration (‘93 to about ‘03 or ‘04 and ‘18/‘19 to now) and one period with more host variety (‘03 or ‘04 to about ‘18/‘19) but I’d like to see the data on concentration from the last four years for curiosity’s sake.

Ross Dellenger was a guest on a podcast a week or two ago discussing how television ratings are driving decisions amongst college sports more now than ever before. And he was discussing how there’s a push to get TV executives in the room with the CFP committee (horrific decision if it ever comes to it). The conversation led them to discussions about College Gameday (which has seen an increase in ratings over the past 4 years). And they pulled information from an article that discussed the number of SEC campuses they’ve gone to over the past 4 years, or games involving SEC teams (which coincides with when ESPN bought the SEC broadcast rights in late 2020).

What I’m referring to was something I saw on a 3 minute IG reel as I was scrolling through my feed that had the link to the article in the caption. The article talked about many things with TV ratings; the theme wasn’t centered fully around Gameday locations if that’s what you were hoping for.

I was trying to find the reel where I found the article, but I can’t find the clip as I honestly don’t even know what podcast he was on. But Ross Dellenger was the guy talking about it.

[TheBigCat2192]

There was an article I read the other day that discussed the number of visits to the same campuses over the last 4 years. It didn't used to be that way. I think most share the perspective that I do that the show was better when they moved around the country some.

Sorry for the double quote but could you link the article? Based on the list of GameDay locations on Wikipedia I’m willing to meet you in the middle and say that GameDay has gone through two periods of repetitiveness/concentration (‘93 to about ‘03 or ‘04 and ‘18/‘19 to now) and one period with more host variety (‘03 or ‘04 to about ‘18/‘19) but I’d like to see the data on concentration from the last four years for curiosity’s sake.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The show I miss is the late night College Football Final ... in particular the specific era with Mark May and Lou Holtz.

The version of it now is fine and all but it drastically lacks any character.

[TheBigCat2192]

You completely missed the entire point of what I was saying.

"Growing the sport" perhaps was bad vernacular for the context, but didn't assume anyone would pull out those three specific words in an effort to disprove any component of what I was attempting to say. College Gameday shared the story of college football around the country and the tradition found in all corners of the sport. That's what it's always done. We can argue and debate the purpose at its inception, but that's the College Gameday I grew up watching - and I think you too.

Sure, they primarily went to locations for the show on the weekend of big games with big stakes, but they generally went to a variety of places other than the same token SEC or B1G campuses. That's the entire point I was making. And yes, the "FCS game or no-name G5 rivalry" was never the norm. But I never asked for it to be the norm. The 1-2 times a year they went to those places were cool, unique, and fun for the viewer (in my opinion).

There was an article I read the other day that discussed the number of visits to the same campuses over the last 4 years. It didn't used to be that way. I think most share the perspective that I do that the show was better when they moved around the country some.

The first year that they did more than one game they went to Nebraska twice. The next year they went to Colorado twice. The third year they did Florida vs. Florida State for two straight broadcasts. They have not generally “[gone] to a variety of places.” Try looking at the list of College GameDay broadcasts on Wikipedia. Repeat trips and teams making multiple appearances, whether as host or visitor, have been a feature for the shows entire history.

[IUP24]

I always turn it on, but I might sit and really watch for maybe 15-20 minutes. I had a hard time watching Lee Corso struggle the last few years. When it was just Chris Fowler, Herbstreit and Corso in his prime it was truly an outstanding show. Now it’s more of a show for background noise turned on out of habit.

I agree with all of that.

I'm personally not a fan of Chris Fowler, so I like Rece Davis on there as the host. Herbstreit is good and I like Desmond Howard. I think the whole think has just gotten too crowded and performative. I cannot stand Pat McAfee. I am tired of seeing Herbstreit's dog and that being a major part of the show (I just don't care). Saban is good, but you can tell he feels awkward being up there at times. The entire process of picking games has turned into a joke (it takes a full 15 minutes to do it now).

There's just less of what I enjoyed watching when I was younger. So I've mostly tuned out.

[IUP24]

No it wasn’t. The first College GameDay ever was at the “Game of the Century” between Notre Dame and FSU in 1993 and the first time they went to a game outside of what would today be the P4/P5 was a game at Air Force in 2002 when the Falcons were hosting Notre Dame. The idea that GameDay was about “grow[ing] the sport” is easily disputable just by looking at the host sites and matchups which have almost always been ranked games between big name teams. For every FCS game or no-name G5 rivalry there have usually been 11 “top 25” (at the time) games featuring premier programs in the same season.

You completely missed the entire point of what I was saying.

"Growing the sport" perhaps was bad vernacular for the context, but didn't assume anyone would pull out those three specific words in an effort to disprove any component of what I was attempting to say. College Gameday shared the story of college football around the country and the tradition found in all corners of the sport. That's what it's always done. We can argue and debate the purpose at its inception, but that's the College Gameday I grew up watching - and I think you too.

Sure, they primarily went to locations for the show on the weekend of big games with big stakes, but they generally went to a variety of places other than the same token SEC or B1G campuses. That's the entire point I was making. And yes, the "FCS game or no-name G5 rivalry" was never the norm. But I never asked for it to be the norm. The 1-2 times a year they went to those places were cool, unique, and fun for the viewer (in my opinion).

There was an article I read the other day that discussed the number of visits to the same campuses over the last 4 years. It didn't used to be that way. I think most share the perspective that I do that the show was better when they moved around the country some.