There are some big-time games in Week 12 of the college football season that would be perfect for ESPN College GameDay, but ESPN chose none of them.
ESPN announced on Sunday that College GameDay will be headed to Pittsburgh this weekend for No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 23 Pitt. The network gave into the whines about SEC bias and chose that low-tier matchup over a pair of top-15 SEC clashes with direct College Football Playoff implications between No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners at No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide and No. 10 Texas Longhorns at No. 5 Georgia.
It was already a letdown for OU and Alabama fans that their game got an afternoon kick instead of the primetime slot on ABC. Texas-Georgia will be in primetime instead. Regardless, it won't be Notre Dame-Pitt, which will kick off at 11 a.m. CT Saturday on ABC. That means the GameDay crew will get to make its predictions inside the stadium in front of dozens of fans.
Even Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi knows their matchup isn't a big-time game and has zero implications on a national scale other than Notre Dame possibly getting upset.
"It is not an ACC game," Narduzzi said during Monday's press conference. "I’m glad you brought that up. It’s not an ACC game. I’d gladly get beat 103 or 110-10 in that game. They could put 100 up on us, as long as we win the next two after that.”
NEW: Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi on whether Notre Dame game is a ‘must-win’:
— On3 (@On3sports) November 10, 2025
“Absolutely not, It is not an ACC game. I’m glad you brought that up. It’s not an ACC game. I’d gladly get beat 103 or 110-10 in that game. They could put 100 up on us as long as we win the next two… pic.twitter.com/7mA3xmxMrM
That'll surely get college football fans fired up and skyrocket ratings.
Ultimately, as it always does now, ESPN put more emphasis on its loud-mouth personalities over actual games. The network immediately advertised this as a homecoming for College GameDay cast member Pat McAfee, who already has a knack for making everything about himself. Since there will be no major storylines about the game itself, College GameDay will essentially be "The Pat McAfee Show" on Saturday.
The Sooners and Longhorns, though, are both playing top-5 teams in do-or-die road games. There's even more narrative around OU-Alabama after the Sooners upset Bama last season and ultimately left the Crimson Tide out of the CFP.
Other than the few Pitt fans, no one around college football was pleased with ESPN's decision.
ESPN College GameDay headed to Pitt instead of big-time SEC games
Texas vs Georgia. Oklahoma vs Alabama. And they choose this game lol. Embarrassing https://t.co/rt923Dvy33
— MattBeGreat (@mattbegreatyt) November 9, 2025
I understand College Gameday doesn’t want to go to the same places. But I feel like it’s disrespecting the fans by NOT going to the game of the week. Even if you have already been to that school. Idc if they went to Bama vs OU or Texas vs Georgia. But it clearly should have been…
— MattBeGreat (@mattbegreatyt) November 10, 2025
Texas plays at Georgia, Oklahoma plays at Alabama. The notre dame bias is so annoying. https://t.co/KMhmDG2IRI
— kenny wilson (@actual5150) November 9, 2025
Notre Dame bias is worse than any other media bias in CFB https://t.co/k4rXoKeiS4
— Josh Wick (@JWthegreatest) November 10, 2025
Perfect example of why folks don’t watch ESPN anymore — TV personality and his wild antics wins out over the story. https://t.co/WCQgd9uEVd
— David Salley (@dsalley24) November 9, 2025
“College GameDay” at Pitt: https://t.co/SHFXJCfVxs pic.twitter.com/NdHQHSzvvB
— College Sports Only (@CSOonX) November 9, 2025
Should’ve been USC Iowa or Oklahoma Bama or Texas Georgia but let’s instead do an out of conference game that’s an 11 point spread 😂😂 https://t.co/nxair9GTYo
— ry 🍤 (@FlyRy7) November 10, 2025