College GameDay Host Is Not A Fan Of Cold-Weather Football
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
Weather and its effect on games has been a topic of football for generations. In some instances it can be an X-factor and in others just a nuisance. For one member of ESPN's College GameDay, it's just a nuisance.
That was the opinion largely expressed by Rece Davis on the latest College GameDay podcast. Davis said that when you get a sideways snowstorm like we saw in the AFC Championship Game, football suddenly becomes less about the best team and more about who gets lucky.
“For years, the Big Ten fans said, ‘That’s real football.’ Think about that NFL game in Denver. It doesn’t make it real football. It diminishes the skill,” Davis said. “Now, when it’s cold and like, real football weather, it’s great. It’s fun if it’s in the 30s, 20s or whatever.
“When you start getting the sideways snow storms, it’s just who gets luckiest or who has less bad luck. So, I don’t want to hear that this is some great test. It diminishes the skill involved, which isn’t what we want.”
Davis vs. The Weather
Davis said that while it may be fun to watch bad-weather games, he feels it dilutes the gauge of who the better team is. He said is becomes a test of who survives the elements better rather than who's the better team.
“It’s great theater and a great thing to watch,” Davis said. “But, it’s not conducive to the players playing their best and the best performances. … Is it a real test of who the better team is? No, it’s not a test of the better team. It’s a test of who survives the elements better.”
Comments like that aren't going to sit well with college football fans, many of whom will see it as a further sign that ESPN is siding with the warm-weather situated SEC teams as opposed to the Big Ten and their more consistently cold climates.
But there might be something to what he's saying. We just had an historically terrible winter storm across the Eastern United States. Had it been timed differently, perhaps the national championship game or even the Super Bowl might have been canceled if it were in a venue subject to such conditions.
Things like that are why events have to be planned years in advance.
This story was originally published by The Spun on Feb 10, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos