Will ESPN change the Georgia vs Arkansas game time? No.
A friend of mine texted me today. He was FUMING. “Can you believe that they’ve put Georgia vs Arkansas at frickin’ 11am?’
We live in the Houston area, so 11am kick-offs aren’t the greatest time for our wake-ups or our livers, but we stride on.
So I looked and behold: No.2 Georgia will play No.8 Arkansas under the bright sunlight, instead of what the fans of the SEC probably wanted more – a night game, with Sanford Stadium going off the chain.
“They should have waited until after the Texas A&M – Arkansas game to make that call,” he said. Instead, ESPN made the call on September 20th.
What was a little galling for Georgia fans – and the rest of college football – is that the game that Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit are calling is, er, No. 4 Penn State vs unranked Indiana. There will be no White-Out. It’s just another game.
You could argue about the size of the Penn State brand and how the Nittany Lions effectively own the North-East, one of the biggest viewing spots for college football fans. But if we’re honest, Penn State fans we know are puzzled why this game’s getting Prime-Time – even with the new-found interest in the Nittany Lions….who are arguably one of the worst No.4 teams in recently CFB history (they have a weak O-Line and no run game, btw).
But the fact is this: ESPN knew what they were doing making Georgia vs Arkansas at 11am. Their biggest rival for 11am is FOX’s Big Noon Saturday, which got nearly 8m viewers for the Ohio State vs Oregon game a couple of weeks ago. So why wouldn’t you move Georgia vs Arkansas to rival FOX’s game between No.14 Michigan (on the rise)’s trip to Wisconsin (on the fall) for that Big Noon Saturday.
COLLEGE GAMEDAY SHENANIGANS
Oh, and stunningly enough, ESPN has decided that College Gameday is going to be in the ‘Classic City’, which means fans won’t to even move their fingers away from the TV remote.
Even College Gameday’s decision to go to Athens was met with grumpiness from Alabama and Ole Miss, who thought Lane Kiffin’s return to Tuscaloosa warranted more attention from the Good People of ESPN.
Fun fact: It was never going to happen. Here’s why: The game was on CBS, and not on ESPN or ABC.
Week 1: Georgia/Clemson (ABC)
Week 2: Iowa State vs Iowa (ABC)
Week 3: Auburn at Penn State (ABC)
Week 4: Notre Dame vs Wisconsin (FOX)
If 2019’s anything to go by, you can expect Alabama a couple of times on College Gameday before the season ends – and maybe – if Auburn can stay the course this season – a back-to-back with the Iron Bowl and the SEC Championship Game.
So please, get up early, shut up and watch the games.