ESPN Employee Blames Alabama Football Downfall for College GameDay’s Controversial Week 5 Move

While Georgia fans hoped College GameDay would finally set up in Athens for the big SEC matchup with Alabama, ESPN had different plans. The team is packing up for Happy Valley rather than traveling south for what appeared to be the Bulldogs’ first genuine attempt at hosting this season. The show declared, “NEXT STOP: HAPPY VALLEY 👀 See you next Saturday for a top-10 matchup between Oregon and Penn State 🍿,” ensuring that the Nittany Lions and Ducks, not the Bulldogs, are the stars of Week 5. In any other year, this would’ve caused an uproar. But there is a reason why the rematch of the B1G Championship game is a bigger draw.

On the September 24 episode of their show on ESPN, Scott Van Pelt and Stanford Steve discussed how Week 5 of college football is shaping up to be a wild one. You have Illinois hosting USC for an early kickoff, and Notre Dame will travel to Arkansas for an afternoon start. Evening? It’s all lit! Penn State vs. Oregon. At the same time, Georgia vs. Alabama.

Addressing the College GameDay snub, Steve said, “Sorry to Georgia fans. I guess they’re upset. We’ve been to every single one of the Georgia-Alabama games since Kirby’s been the head coach.” To which Scott added, “And listen, there’s a case to be made for that as a gigantic game, which it is, but it’s not as big as 3 versus 6. And so what game day does is go to typically… among the biggest games.”

The stakes are extremely high. The Nittany Lions are hoping for exact revenge for their 45-37 Big Ten Championship loss last year, and the Ducks are making their first trip to Happy Valley since 1964. More importantly, it’s No. 3 vs. No. 6. That’s the key bit. While No. 5 Georgia has held its end of the bargain to ensure that its annual clash with Alabama remains a priority for the broadcasters, the same can’t be said about the No. 17 Crimson Tide.

Coming into the season, analysts were predicting big things for Kalen DeBoer’s team, but all those predictions fell flat when they faced Florida State in their Week 1 game. The Tide were outplayed, outmuscled, and beaten in every part of the game by a team that finished 2-10 last year. In hindsight, that loss looks better for Alabama considering how the Noles have continued to climb the rankings. On their part, Alabama has won two back-to-back, but against weaker competition. That means a No. 5 vs. a No. 17 matchup.

To add to that, there’s also the White Out factor, which is possibly the best college football spectacle. With an 11-6 record when the stadium is all white, Saturday will be Penn State’s 18th full-stadium White Out. As Steve said, “I haven’t been to a night game White Out with a GameDay attached and been part of the whole thing… they will take this over any day for a show and a game.” GameDay’s selection of the Nittany Lions over the Bulldogs this week is clear, given that kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., and the town will be buzzing with fans from all over the nation.

Why everyone’s talking about Penn State’s iconic White Out this week

If you think college football is all about the plays on the field, think again. This Saturday’s White Out is the real show in Happy Valley, not just Oregon vs. Penn State. For almost twenty years, Penn State has been honing this tradition. As Nick Dawkins put it, “When you run out on the field, and after the game you get to look around and see the spectacle that was created by Nittany Nation, there are no words for what that is. I’m expecting big things from our fans during that game, the noise that they’re going to generate.” And that’s what College GameDay was unable to resist. A stadium filled with more than 100,000 yelling white-clad fans? There you have it: the prime-time drama.

Also, the noise, the chaos, and the psychological edge are just as important as the colors and the crowd. Even before the first snap is made, Oregon knows it’s going to be a tough game. In order to replicate Beaver Stadium’s thunderous roar, coach Dan Lanning is already getting his team ready by playing the song “Mo Bamba” loudly during practice and limiting quarterback Dante Moore‘s in-helmet communication. As Lanning said, “It’ll play a couple times. We’ll do everything we can to be prepared for that environment for sure. I don’t love that song.” Even edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei admitted, “It might be the loudest stadium I’ve been in… it’s a blessing to go out on that kind of stage and play ball.”