College GameDay has changed. It used to be about college football and celebrating the matchups that define the sport from week to week. Now, it is about promoting ESPN. If you need proof, look no further than Harrisonburg, Virginia this past weekend.
ESPN took the biggest show in the college football universe to James Madison University ahead of the then-undefeated Dukes’ matchup with Appalachian State. There’s nothing wrong with that on its face, but when you consider that across the country, Oregon State and Washington were playing for probably the last time, it just doesn’t make much sense. Both teams were ranked in the AP top 10. It was clearly the best game on the schedule this week.
The show has gone to plenty of smaller schools in the past. Last year alone, Rece Davis and crew spent Saturdays in Appalachian State, Jackson State and Montana State. So why did this past weekend stand out?
It’s hard to imagine College GameDay picking anywhere other than Corvallis if Pat McAfee had not doubled down on a feud with the remaining Pac-2 schools earlier this season. GameDay originating from Corvallis would have meant viewers hearing three hours of boos from the Oregon State crowd every time anyone on the panel spoke. There would have been signs in the crowd that the network absolutely does not want on its airwaves.
ESPN chose to take GameDay somewhere it could play the hero instead of the villain. Going to James Madison allowed the show to put all of the focus on the NCAA’s decision to keep the Dukes out of a bowl game.
There is a vocal crowd that has spent all season blaming Pat McAfee for the change to the College GameDay they used to know. I get it. He is a force of personality that the show has had to adapt to, but saying “this is all Pat McAfee’s fault” is kind of a lazy narrative at this point.
Before the season started, I asked if 2023 would be “a year of change or a year of treading water for College GameDay?”. There would be no David Pollack, no Chris Fallica, no Gene Wojciechowski, and most importantly, no Lee Fitting. How would that effect what showed up on screen?
Without being in production and marketing meetings each week, it’s hard to know exactly what Fitting had the final say on, but anecdotal reports say it was just about everything. If that is true, the show has been missing the guidance of its former boss badly this year.
FOX knows what Big Noon Kickoff is. That show was designed to do one thing – promote whatever game FOX has on at noon. Saturday, the show originated from College Park for Michigan versus Maryland. It wasn’t a game anyone was looking forward to watching. It’s hard to imagine even the majority of Maryland and Michigan fans were planning to sit through all four quarters, but Big Noon Kickoff has a mission statement and it sticks to it. Sure, it comes across as shameless at times, but so does hiring Urban Meyer. FOX knows what it is in the college football world, leans into it and feeds its Big Ten audience the rose-colored glasses broadcast it demands.
College GameDay was never supposed to be that. Sure, the show doesn’t ask tough questions, even when they’re called for, but it was always there for the fans. The goal was to capture the real atmosphere at the biggest game of the week, not to make sure you know ESPN dominates and dictates college football conversations.
That was the clear goal this past weekend. It showed up everywhere, from the decision to avoid a likely icy reception in Corvallis to the interview with James Madison coach Curt Cignetti to the selection of Barstool’s PFT Commenter as the celebrity guest picker.
There could be many ulterior motives for selecting PFT Commenter to sit at the dais. Maybe it was an attempt to woo younger viewers. Maybe it was the network laying the groundwork to bring Pardon My Take to ESPN platforms in the future. What I saw was another megaphone to spread the day’s core message – ESPN isn’t the college football bad guy. The NCAA is.
PFT is a James Madison alum. The network knew he was going to be crass. He was going to match McAfee’s energy and play well off of him. He was the perfect guest to turn the “screw the NCAA” energy of the show up to 11.
The world didn’t end this weekend for college football fans because ESPN chose to be in Harrisonburg. College GameDay was no better or worse this week than it usually is. It was just hard not to notice the very transparent strategy involved. That was what felt different.
It does seem like the answer to my question from earlier this year is that College GameDay is in a year of transition. I still believe more change is coming sooner rather than later. What that means exactly is impossible to know. Right now, things feel a little uncomfortable.
Don’t mistake this for some grand declaration that I am giving up on College GameDay. Even if that’s what this was, I don’t expect anyone on the cast or crew to care how I feel. I just want to know there is a clear vision. This season, it doesn’t feel like there has been and Saturday’s show was the clearest example of a shift that is hard to understand.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
