College GameDay is packing up for Bloomington, but the choice is already creating noise. ESPN’s show will be there for Indiana’s matchup with Minnesota, a game that comes with a spread around 20 points. That’s prompted plenty of online chatter, especially because Florida-Georgia is the only game on Saturday featuring two top-20 teams.
Still, after last week’s reaction from Pat McAfee, the snub is easier to live with.
At Utah, a student-made video posted by social media accounts connected to the university featured students talking about GameDay being in town. Some of them poked fun at McAfee’s habit of taking off his shirt and at the bigger-than-life act he brings to his picks. Compared with a lot of the criticism McAfee has drawn over the years, it was pretty mild stuff.
McAfee, though, clearly took it personally. During Saturday’s broadcast, when he made his pick, he nodded to the video and signed off with: “Thank you, guys. I’ll never see you again, hopefully."
That should have been the end of it. Instead, McAfee kept it going Monday and doubled down on the annoyance:
“And then I thought to myself, has anything like really scary happened at like a college gathering in the state of Utah recently? Like, do we think we should be amplifying reasons for why people hate my guts as a university? I don’t know.”
That’s the issue with McAfee on GameDay. It’s not that he’s popular.
It’s that his whole presence tends to center on himself. The viral moments rarely feel like they’re about football.
They feel like they’re about him creating another scene.
And when he’s on a desk with someone like Nick Saban, the tone can feel less like a college football show and more like a toddler cutting into a grown-up conversation with something he believes is “very important.”
The problem isn’t criticism of McAfee, either. The problem is how he responds to it. His reaction to the Utah video suggested that he sees pushback as something beneath him, as if viewers should just be grateful he’s there saying the names of their teams out loud.
That’s why the current version of GameDay can feel so different from what it used to be. The show was once about the school and the game. Now, too often, it feels like the school is expected to host a party for Pat McAfee.
So even if Florida-Georgia is the more compelling matchup and the one that probably deserved the spotlight, there’s at least one silver lining in Atlanta missing out. This weekend, the adults can handle the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
In Other News...
Florida Still Has A Guard Question Heading Into Miami
Boogie Flands absence for Floridas exhibition against Stetson gave the Gators an early look at how the backcourt might have to adapt if the starting point guard is unavailable. Denzel Aberdeen slid over to point guard, Urban Klavar moved into the starting lineup at shooting guard, and Florida still handled business in an 85-68 win, with Klavar and Aberdeen carrying much of the scoring load.
Even with the result in hand, the setup left the bigger question hanging as the Gators shift their attention to the regular-season opener against Miami. Todd Golden praised the way his team performed, but the illness that sidelined Fland added another layer to Floridas guard rotation picture, and the staff now has a short window to sort out how it wants the backcourt arranged when the games start counting for real. [Read more 🡒]
Florida-Georgia Just Lost The Rivalry Feeling Fans Loved Most
For the first time in 31 years, the Georgia-Florida game is leaving Jacksonville, with this years meeting set for Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta because of construction at EverBank Stadium. The setup changes more than the location on the schedule. It strips away the strange, enduring charm that made this rivalry weekend feel like its own holiday, from the old tailgating scenes to the beach gatherings that have long defined the trip for fans on both sides.
The move also comes with a 50-50 ticket split between the schools, and the matchup is already mapped out to land in Tampa in 2027 before returning to Jacksonville through 2031. Even with a path back to the river city, the rotation underscores how much is lost when Florida and Georgia are not meeting in the place that gave the rivalry its distinct personality, and it has plenty of fans and former players thinking about what used to make the weekend feel bigger than just another SEC game. [Read more 🡒]
Floridas Best Shot Vs Georgia Comes Down To One Brutal Test
With Florida and Georgia heading into another rivalry meeting at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the spotlight is on a familiar kind of uncertainty for the Gators: quarterback play. ESPN analyst Greg McElroy expects No. 3 Georgia to bounce back from its recent loss, while Florida is still sorting out its own answer under center, with Jon Sumrall yet to name a starter between Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr. It is the kind of week where every practice rep matters and every hint from the coaches gets parsed for more than it probably should.
Georgias quarterback situation adds another layer, even if the Bulldogs appear to be in better shape overall. Kirby Smart said Gunner Stockton dealt with a shoulder stinger after the last game but did not show concussion symptoms, which at least eases one concern for a team trying to steady itself after a loss. For Florida, though, the bigger issue is simpler and more pressing: finding the quarterback who can handle the moment in a game where one rough stretch can quickly tilt the whole afternoon. [Read more 🡒]