'College GameDay' announces Week 13 location, sparking controversy

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'College GameDay' announces Week 13 location, sparking controversy

ESPN’s “College GameDay” is heading back to the west coast for Week 13 of the 2025 college football season.

Host Rece Davis, former Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, and fellow analysts Pat McAfee, Desmond Howard and Kirk Herbstreit will be in Eugene for a top 25 showdown between the Oregon Ducks and USC Trojans at Autzen Stadium.

It’s the second time this year that “GameDay” has visited Eugene, and it will be the third time this season that an Oregon game has been featured on the iconic pregame show. “GameDay” previously traveled to the Ducks’ home stadium for Oregon’s matchup against the Indiana Hoosiers in Week 7 on Oct. 11.

Oregon will host “GameDay” for the 14th time in school history, and for the third time overall since the start of the 2024 season, Saban’s first year as an ESPN analyst. Saban coached a game at Autzen Stadium only once, on Sept. 5, 1998 while at Michigan State.

Oregon (9-1) is ranked No. 5 in this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll; USC (8-2) is No. 16. Kickoff for USC-Oregon is 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on CBS.

“College GameDay” begins broadcasting live on ESPN at 8 a.m. CT each week.

‘College GameDay’ ignites controversy with Week 13 destination

An overhead interior view of the field during the first half of a game between the Oregon Ducks and the Colorado Buffaloes at Autzen Stadium on September 23, 2023 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)

“College GameDay” is likely going to face some form of criticism no matter where it goes from week to week, but the selection of Oregon seems to have drawn more ire than usual. Former “GameDay” analyst Chris Fallica, now with Fox’s competing “Big Noon Kickoff,” even weighed in.

On paper, it’s hard to argue against Oregon, especially given that both the Ducks and USC are competing for berths in the College Football Playoff. The two schools are also former Pac-12 rivals who have enormous history on the gridiron. One is a blue blood; the other is a national championship away from firmly becoming one.

Nevertheless, a few college football fans took to social media to complain about ESPN’s decision.

“Could’ve done Montana State-Montana, Harvard-Yale, or Lehigh-Lafayette to be different and give the FCS some love but instead just run back the same show you guys did 6 weeks ago. Very lame. Acknowledge schools outside the P4 for once,” wrote Zach Kaplan of WNCT-TV in Greenville, North Carolina.

“The entire country who can’t agree on anything would agree that college game day should never visit the same campus twice in one regular season. Playoffs are a different story,” another X (formerly Twitter) user wrote.

“There were 3 legitimately good match-ups at schools you have not visited this year. Instead you went to a big program you’ve already visited and visit almost every year. Embarrassing,” wrote another user.

‘College GameDay’ could be heading to Alabama-Auburn game in Week 14

Nov 25, 2017; Auburn, AL, USA; View of the line of scrimmage between the Auburn Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide during the first quarter at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Of all the rivalry week matchups in Week 14, the annual Iron Bowl showdown between Alabama and Auburn is suddenly a very big game on the 2025 schedule — and not just for state bragging rights.

Thanks to squandering a golden opportunity to effectively clinch a berth in the College Football Playoff last week against Oklahoma, Alabama (8-2) and coach Kalen DeBoer now face a must-win game at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Nov. 29. (What could possibly go wrong?)

Assuming Alabama beats Mercer Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium (1 p.m. CT, ESPN+), beating Auburn would send the Crimson Tide to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, where even an Alabama loss likely would not oust the Tide from the CFP. The selection committee is highly unlikely to exclude a 3-loss team from the SEC that reached the conference’s title game.

And if Alabama loses the Iron Bowl?

Yeah, at 9-3 and with a loss to a rival that would finish 6-6, plus an already ugly loss to Florida State (5-5) on its résumé, Alabama’s chances of reaching the CFP would be about as trustworthy as a politician’s smile.

It’s not like Auburn won’t have anything to play for, either. For starters, it’s the Iron Bowl. And assuming the Tigers beat Mercer in Week 13, Auburn would clinch a bowl game berth with a win over Alabama, in addition to dealing what would likely be a fatal blow to the Tide’s playoff hopes. Interim Auburn coach D.J. Durkin might be hired on the spot if he beats Alabama. Maybe not, but he’d be a hard candidate to pick against.

The Tigers have also lost five straight to Alabama, their longest losing streak in the series since Bear Bryant owned the rivalry in the 70s and early 80s. Jordan-Hare Stadium will be as electric as ever for the first Iron Bowl that Auburn will host in prime time since 2007.

Kickoff for the 90th edition of Alabama-Auburn on Nov. 29 was announced as 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ABC, with no other SEC game being broadcast opposite of the Iron Bowl.

In other words, ESPN and ABC, which own the SEC’s television broadcast rights, are making the Iron Bowl a top priority. “College GameDay” being on hand would not only solidify that, but the game itself might be one with the highest stakes of them all in Week 14.

Alabama football schedule 2025

Here’s a look at Alabama football’s game-by-game 2025 regular-season schedule.

  • Aug. 30: at Florida State (L, 31-17)
  • Sept. 6: vs. UL Monroe (W, 73-0)
  • Sept. 13: vs. Wisconsin (W, 38-14)
  • Sept. 27: at Georgia (W, 24-21)
  • Oct. 4: vs. Vanderbilt (W, 30-14)
  • Oct. 11: at Missouri (W, 27-24)
  • Oct. 18: vs. Tennessee (W, 37-20)
  • Oct. 25: at South Carolina (W, 29-22)
  • Nov. 8: vs. LSU (W, 20-9)
  • Nov. 15: vs. Oklahoma (L, 23-21)
  • Nov. 22 vs. Eastern Illinois, 1 p.m., ESPN+
  • Nov. 29: at Auburn, 6:30 p.m., ABC

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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: ‘College GameDay’ announces Week 13 destination, sparking controversy

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