So, ESPN's College Gameday is heading to Vanderbilt University this Saturday for the Commodores' matchup against Missouri and a lot of people are upset. Vanderbilt has been an amazing story this season, currently sitting at 6-1 following a tremendous rise last season that included a breakthrough win over Alabama. This year, they’ve continued their momentum with key wins over South Carolina and LSU.

Logically, choosing Vanderbilt makes sense. It’s an unlikely success story in the SEC, and it provides a great story to tell. Yet, the choice has triggered a wave of frustration across the college football landscape. The core complaint is familiar: Gameday’s latest stop marks yet another occurrence of the show prioritizing the SEC, thereby showcasing the same conference and largely overlooking equally compelling stories elsewhere.

Many are upset that Gameday isn't broadcasting from the North Dakota State vs. South Dakota State game, as they did in September 2019. This rivalry features two perennial powerhouses who have dominated the FCS National Championship landscape this past millennium. Both teams are ranked at the top of the FCS, making this a pivotal matchup that will shape the FCS playoff seeding later this fall.

Many believe that because of the gravity of that game—pitting the top two FCS programs against each other—Gameday should be there to tell that story and highlight an under-covered piece of college football. They are frustrated that Gameday chose to cover Vanderbilt instead of focusing on a game with clear national championship implications at the lower division.

Personally, I find this particular outrage funny. The folks upset that Gameday isn't showcasing North Dakota State and South Dakota State simply don't understand how incredibly difficult it is for the show to even acknowledge non-Power 4 institutions with any real substance.

To understand the expectation versus the reality of Gameday coverage, look no further than HBCU football. Despite the wealth of historic programs and compelling narratives in HBCU football throughout the years (where there are many FCS HBCU squads), College Gameday has only broadcasted live from HBCU events four times since its inception:

  1. Bayou Classic (2005): Broadcast following Hurricane Katrina from Houston, Texask, the first time College Gameday broadcated from an HBCU event.
  2. Hampton vs. Florida A&M (2008): The first time College Gameday broadcasted from an HBCU campus.
  3. MEAC-SWAC Challenge (2021): Broadcast from Atlanta during a Week 0 game done in coordination with ESPN Events
  4. Jackson State (2022): Broadcast from Jackson, Mississippi, during Deion Sanders' final season with the Tigers.

*Note: they broadcasted from the site of the Delaware State vs. North Dakota State game but Delaware State was the visitor.

Article Continues Below

That 2022 stop at Jackson State is the perfect case study for why frustration over this weekend’s choice is misguided. Despite the show setting up its entire broadcast on the JSU campus—due almost entirely to the Deion Sanders phenomenon—the game itself was tucked behind the ESPN+ paywall. The game, pitting JSU against fierce rival Southern University, couldn't even get flexed to ESPNU for television exposure.

JSU was little more than a studio backdrop. Outside of a well-produced feature about the 1974 JSU team that featured Hall of Famers Walter Payton, Jackie Slater and Robert Brazile, the broadcast was mainly concerned with celebrity guests and Deion's presence, not the current state of the SWAC or the team's outlook.

It’s hypocritical for fans to be upset about North Dakota State vs. South Dakota State when Gameday failed to provide substantive coverage even for a story as massive as Deion Sanders at Jackson State. So, we've seen this before in the FCS. It isn't a shock. It just appears that people are upset because it's now happening to the schools they root for as they see the appeal of the matchup but not ESPN's upper brass or College Gameday's producers.

The truth is, both the Vanderbilt and the potential North Dakota State game selections are products of the same corporate reality: ESPN just signed a significant deal with the SEC, greatly expanding the conference’s presence across ABC and ESPN platforms. It makes perfect sense that they would use College Gameday—their premier promotional tool—to promote the product they paid billions for.

There are many key games across the FCS that College Gameday could or should do significant spotlighting of or even broadcast from. But Gameday consistently chases what they believe is the biggest headline or the most valuable property, rather than using their established platform to spread light on significant programs that don't have the existing fan fervor, which was a tenant of the show in it's heyday.

I understand why people are mad—they want program diversity and acknowledgment of great football wherever it’s played. But given ESPN’s history and business incentives, we should have already had the expectation that this was exactly what would occur.