ESPN College GameDay 10/6: Not picking Columbia, SC would be a travesty

September 10, 2011; Athens, GA, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks running back Marcus Lattimore (21) runs in for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. South Carolina beat Georgia 45-42. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-US PRESSWIRE

It was said in the headline, but I’ll say it again for clarity. Not picking Columbia, SC to host ESPN’s College GameDay would be a travesty of the highest (or lowest, depending on the connotation you get from reading this) order.

Before I let emotion take over like I did last night (and I’m not backing down), here are the three best games of the day on October 6th.

Texas (12) vs West Virginia (8).

LSU (2) vs Florida (14)

South Carolina (7) vs Georgia (5).

Those are the only three games pitting ranked teams against each other that week. Things could change based on rankings and upsets next weekend, but right now those are the best games available that day.

Austin, Texas is an intriguing candidate to host Kirk Hirbstreit and Friends for the UT, WVU contest, but the week after, Texas plays Oklahoma, and College GameDay rarely passes up an opportunity to head to that game. Plus, the Longhorns could get upset at Oklahoma State this coming weekend.

Gainesville, Florida wouldn’t be a bad spot for GameDay to head to in two weeks, except for the fact that Florida has already been featured on the show twice this year. Granted, they were the visitors on both of those occasions, but it’d be hard to justify featuring them again this early in the season when they still have that neutral site game against UGA and a home game with South Carolina left on the schedule.

The best possible location for College GameDay on October 6th, though, is Columbia, South Carolina.

If Georgia can get by Tennessee in Athens next weekend and South Carolina can exit Lexington, Kentucky unscathed (I laughed while typing the second half of that), this game will most likely feature the numbers five and six teams in the country. A once lopsided rivalry has turned into a heated grudge match since Steve Spurrier came to Columbia, and the winner of the game will be on the fast track to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game.

There are other good games to watch on 10/6, there just aren’t any game better than South Carolina vs Georgia.