ESPN will be bringing ‘College GameDay’ to a school that doesn’t often get national attention this coming week. The Worldwide Leader announced on Saturday night that it plans to air its famed college football pregame show from the campus of James Madison University.
The network’s ‘College GameDay‘ account on X made the official announcement. It will not be any ordinary broadcast either. No, ESPN plans on having the Jonas Brothers perform live on the JMU campus in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
“GET READY, HARRISONBURG, WE ARE COMING TO YOUR CITY!” the show’s account exclaimed.
https://twitter.com/CollegeGameDay/status/1723499130482266326
The show going to JMU is a different angle than usual. The hard-hitting, intense Power 5 lifestyle is often captivating. But there is a charm and a quirk to the smaller schools and programs. The show’s appreciation, or, in some cases, the appreciation they showed in the past to those programs, makes the show great. There’s a lot of heart-and-soul argument from the show’s enthusiasts. So it’s neat to see JMU get the spotlight.
If you’re not familiar, the Dukes are unbeaten this season. JMU is 10-0 in 2023. But there’s an unfortunate caveat: They can’t go to a bowl game. They weren’t eligible last year, either. JMU recently transitioned from FCS to FBS, and the NCAA has a rule that bars teams from competing in bowl games after they transition.
But JMU, as recently as this week, has argued they’ve met the terms and conditions of the transition in a letter they penned to the NCAA to have the bowl ban be remedied. They say they’ve excelled in the classroom and on the field as one of the remaining unbeaten teams. Their season finale is this weekend against Appalachian State, which makes the show’s appearance on the campus very notable.
What else is notable, though, is something else going on this coming weekend. A significant tilt will occur in the Pacific Northwest. The Pac-12’s unbeaten Washington, on the heels of passing a test against the Utah Utes, travel to Corvallis, Oregon, where the Top 15-ranked Oregon State Beavers await them.
You may have been clued in on the clash between ESPN and the Pacific Northwest—namely, Washington State. The Cougars and the Beavers are still searching for a life raft as conference realignment came, went, and left without them. Oregon, Washington, UCLA, and USC will bolt the Pac-12 this offseason for the Big Ten. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah will all flee for the Big 12. And finally, Cal and Stanford are ACC-bound. It’s created an extremely awkward and contentious situation that figures to pitch a tent in the courts for a while.
While ESPN has treaded into awkward situations before, and to be fair, they’ve been to the Pacific Northwest multiple times this season, this was certainly the biggest opportunity for Oregon State this season to get some national exposure. While a big game awaits them on Black Friday against rival Oregon, which could be the last edition of the Oregon-Oregon State rivalry for a long time, that’s two weeks away! And on a Friday, which rules ‘GameDay’ out.
So the choice was there, but ESPN decided to shine a light on JMU. You can’t fault them for it, but you’d imagine there might be some resentment somewhere.