Whether you like Lee Corso and his merry band of pranksters on the set of ESPN’s “College Gameday”, one thing is for sure; When they came to campus for the Gamecocks vs Alabama showdown two years ago, the entire school was in a frenzy, and it culminated at Williams Brice Stadium with the football team’s first ever victory over a number one program.
I’d love for them to come to USC again.
With the Gamecocks ranked number nine in the USA today poll, it’s very likely they’ll land a date with Corso and his famed headgear.
There are three dates, depending on how the season plays out, that a Gameday appearance would be feasible, and, in one case, highly probably.
First, the two unlikely dates are Oct. 27 and Nov. 10. Those dates are games against Tennessee and Arkansas respectively.
Tennessee probably won’t be a good enough matchup by then to warrant a Gameday appearance, but for fun, here are some games the crew might be looking at that Halloween weekend:
Tennessee at South Carolina, Florida vs UGA (outdoor cocktail party), Mich St. at Wisconsin, Ohio State at Penn State (will PSU be competitive and warrant another trip from Gameday, which went there last year over several viable options once the scandal news broke?) and the game that will most likely be the Gameday choice: Michigan at Nebraska.
The Arkansas at South Carolina matchup on November 10th is way too far away to decide whether or not Gameday has a chance at picking it for its broadcast. The Hogs might wittle under the pressure of a rough off season and a new coach, the Gamecocks might already have losses to Georgia and LSU, and a possible upset by Tennessee or Florida (I doubt it, but none of those are sure wins for Carolina).
Just for the hell of it, and because there aren’t many other big games that weekend, other contests the guys might consider include:
West Virginia at Oklahoma State and Oregon at Cal.
The biggest reason I don’t think Carolina will get Gameday for neither of those games is because I’m confident they’ll get it for their matchup with Georgia.
The game will almost certainly pit two top 10 teams against each other (top 5, maybe). The winner (especially if it’s UGA) will have a pretty good shot at making it to the SEC Championship game. ESPN loves the Spurrier vs Richt angle. There aren’t any other games with this kind of firepower.
Nebraska plays at Ohio State, but other than that being a game between B10 contenders, there aren’t many storylines for Gameday to go with.
Georgia Tech plays Clemson on the sixth, as well, but the Tigers will probably be favored by two touchdowns or more.
LSU also plays at Florida that weekend. LSU is a good story, but will Florida be close to cracking the top 10 by then?
Out of all those matchups, and, yes my opinion is very biased, Georgia at Carolina is clearly the most intriguing.
With that said, anything can happen.
Just a few more days… Just a few more days… Just a few more days…