not that anyone should be looking ahead to next week beyond Penn State’s Week 2 matchup with Ball State, but it is difficult not to start getting excited about Week 3. Penn State will host the Auburn Tigers for a nationally televised primetime showdown for the first regular-season meeting between the two programs. It is one the fans of both programs have been looking forward to seeing, and it will finally arrive in week 3.
So, one of the questions that will be on everyone’s mind this weekend is whether or not ESPN will be parking the College GameDay bus in State College next week. There is a good reason to suspect that is exactly what is going to be unfolding.
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What is Penn State’s all-time record when featured on ESPN’s College GameDay?
For starters, the Penn State-Auburn game will be airing on primetime on ABC with Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit on the call. It would make sense to go all-in for ESPN’s biggest game on the schedule for the week. ESPN also loves the whiteout crowd, and this may be the most attractive option for a GameDay visit to State College this season. Missing on the opportunity feels like something ESPN would not want to do if it can avoid doing so.
There are some worthy options in play for College GameDay next week though. The reunion of Oklahoma and Nebraska as non-conference opponents has plenty of history, and the Sooners are considered a likely playoff candidate with a Heisman Trophy-caliber quarterback. But then again, Nebraska.
The SEC has a banger in Gainesville with Florida hosting Alabama, and that could be a worthy destination for College GameDay as well. But those are the two games that stand to be the biggest threats to a Big Ten-SEC clash between Penn State and Auburn.
Of the three, Alabama-Florida is probably the best game of the day. But Big Ten vs. SEC and a trip to Happy Valley may be too much to pass up on for GameDay. ESPN can send SEC Nation to Gainesville, and FOX will probably be setting up a live show in Norman for Oklahoma-Nebraska.
So make way for the College GameDay bus. It should be making its way to State College next week.
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