Will College Gameday Come to USC vs. Stanford in 2015?
On Monday, word came out that the Week 3 USC vs. Stanford matchup would be in primetime on ABC. That means a likely broadcast team of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit. But could it mean College Gameday too?
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ESPN’s classic traveling pregame show has come to the Coliseum for each of the last two times Stanford has visited the Trojans, with both games being absolutely scintillating.
USC lost to Andrew Luck and company in triple overtime in 2011, while the 2013 game saw Ed Orgeron’s Trojans beat No. 4 Stanford on the leg of Andre Heidari’s game-winning field goal at the death.
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Given the history, plus the fact that ABC is set to carry the game, it seems like USC could be the leader in the clubhouse to host Gameday once again.
That is, if the matchup is of unbeatens ranked in the top 15. Phil Steele has the Trojans projected 7th in his preseason AP poll prediction, while Stanford sits 25.
But while USC opens with a pair of Sun Belt teams, Stanford has room to move up with a pesky trip to Northwestern followed by a home tilt with defending American co-champion UCF.
Four wins altogether for both teams may result in solid rankings for each and plenty of reasons for Gameday to head west.
The show set up on McCarthy Quad in 2013, creating a much better environment than in past years out in front of the Coliseum. That could draw even more students this time around, especially with the preseason hype surrounding the Trojans.
Other possible destinations:
Ole Miss at Alabama: Gameday made the trek to Oxford last season for Ole Miss’s upset win over Alabama, made famous by the guest-starring of Katy Perry. They could make the same decision for this year’s return leg in Tuscaloosa, though it’s likely that Gameday will be in Fort Worth Week 1 for Alabama vs. Wisconsin. Would ESPN really pick the Tide in two of the first three shows? Probably not.
Auburn at LSU: A relatively weak home slate for LSU makes Week 3 vs. Auburn their biggest home fixture, save for a better-than-expected Arkansas or Texas A&M in late November. That should play into Baton Rouge’s hand here, though both teams have early season tests that could give one or both teams a loss. Auburn opens up against Louisville, while LSU travels to Mississippi State in Week 2.
Where will College Gameday go in Week 3?
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