O'Gara: Ranking the SEC's 7 best chances to host College GameDay in 2024

Say what you want about College GameDay.

You don’t like Pat McAfee. You miss David Pollack.

You like McAfee, you don’t miss Pollack.

You think Lee Corso needs to hang it up. You’re not excited about Nick Saban being on the desk.

However you feel, what’s undeniable is that hosting GameDay is still significant. It fuels buildup. It’s a point of pride. It’s a pregame show unlike any other. That’s why we’re talking about it 6 months before the start of the season. Specifically, about which SEC teams have the best chance to host it.

Oh, one more thing. Let’s limit this to SEC campuses. That means Texas at Michigan wouldn’t count for this discussion. Or neutral-site games. This list is limited to College GameDay truly coming to an SEC city.

OK, here are the SEC’s best chance to host GameDay in 2024:

7. Georgia at Ole Miss

The Nov. 9 competition — Oklahoma at Mizzou, Florida State at Notre Dame, Alabama at LSU

If this were happening on a different weekend, it would be a top-3 game on this list. You’ve got Georgia on the road in what should be a hostile environment for a pair of likely preseason top-10 teams. Lord knows wild things happen when GameDay shows up in Oxford (shoutout Katy Perry). The problem is Nov. 9 is stacked to the brim with juicy matchups. Shoot, it’s such a good Saturday that Georgia-Ole Miss isn’t even the highest-ranked SEC game on this list. But who knows? Maybe GameDay has already taken in a couple of early-season Alabama games and Bama fatigue pushes the crew back to Ole Miss.

6. Notre Dame at Texas A&M

Aug. 31 competition — Clemson vs. Georgia (in Atlanta), LSU vs. USC (in Las Vegas) on Sunday

I hate to be that guy after an 8-month offseason, but the slate of headliner games on opening weekend is pretty limited. That’s why Notre Dame-A&M has a legitimate shot to host GameDay. It’s the best game on a college campus opening weekend. You’ve got the Riley Leonard-Mike Elko reunion, plus there should be a new energy in College Station after getting out of the Jimbo Fisher era. Go figure that GameDay hasn’t been to A&M since Week 2 of the Fisher era when the Aggies hosted Clemson. It might be Clemson (and Georgia) that has the best chance to get the spotlight in Atlanta.

5. Tennessee at Oklahoma

The Sept. 21 competition — USC at Michigan, Miami (FL) at USF

I probably should’ve ranked this game higher based on the competition. You might assume USC-Michigan is a lock, but remember that the Wolverines host Texas 2 weeks earlier in what’ll be a no-doubter for GameDay. As long as that happens and GameDay doesn’t run it back, Tennessee-Oklahoma has a legitimate shot as a new game with traditional powers in the expanded SEC. Something tells me that ESPN will want to showcase that. It may set up for an off-the-radar matchup like Miami-USF with the Bulls riding all sorts of offseason buzz as a potential Group of 5 Playoff team.

A wild thought? GameDay’s only trip to Norman in the Playoff era was in 2020 when there weren’t fans. Getting back to one of college football’s premier venues — as long as both teams can navigate their respective starts — makes a ton of sense.

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4. Alabama at LSU

The Nov. 9 competition — Florida State at Notre Dame, Georgia at Ole Miss, Oklahoma at Mizzou

I know, I know. I already have Georgia-Ole Miss on this list for that loaded Nov. 9 slate. But I believe Alabama-LSU has the better shot to edge it out. Why? The Alabama-LSU game played host to GameDay in 10 of the past 19 years:

2005
2008
2011
2012
2013
2015
2016
2018
2019
2023

Based on recent history, there’s a better than 50% chance that it’ll happen again. Even as the SEC transitions away from divisions and Alabama transitions away from the Saban era, there could still be plenty on the line for the 12-team Playoff. Of course, you could say the same about FSU-Notre Dame, Georgia-Ole Miss and Oklahoma-Mizzou. All 6 of those teams have a case to start in the top 15. The best bet? You won’t want to leave your couch on Nov. 9.

3. Texas at Texas A&M

The Nov. 30 competition — Auburn at Alabama, Michigan at Ohio State, Washington at Oregon, Oklahoma at LSU

You can go with one of the usual suspects here and nobody would fault you. After all, it’s Rivalry Week. Michigan-Ohio State could be one of the defining games for Ryan Day. Alternatively, both teams could already have Playoff spots locked up. Texas-Texas A&M is a heated rivalry that’s being played for the first time since A&M left for the SEC. We’ve been waiting more than a decade for these teams to rekindle this storied rivalry. If Texas can live up to some big-time preseason expectations and keep itself in the SEC/Playoff hunt into late November, that alone would move the needle. Either way, throw out the records. That’ll be a sight in College Station.

2. Georgia at Texas

The Oct. 19 competition — Alabama at Tennessee, Colorado at Arizona

The only thing standing in the way of this game getting top billing is if both teams get off to wildly disappointing starts and Alabama-Tennessee is a battle of top-10 teams. That’s it. I put Colorado-Arizona in there because we should never count out Deion Sanders getting a national spotlight, but come on. Georgia-Texas is the hottest ticket perhaps of the entire season outside of the No. 1 game on this list. Austin will be the center of the sports world with Formula 1 in town that weekend. Why not add to that with possibly a new, fun conference matchup between likely preseason top-3 teams?

There’s a chance this is a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2 that won’t be quite as pivotal as it would’ve been in the 4-team Playoff era, but will still be a monster showdown for GameDay.

1. Georgia at Alabama

The Sept. 28 competition — Oklahoma at Auburn, Louisville at Notre Dame

Let’s be real. Is there any world in which a regular season Georgia-Alabama game gets passed up? I don’t believe so. Even if the Tide fell to Wisconsin in a likely GameDay host spot a couple weeks earlier, there’s just no way this game can be avoided. It doesn’t matter that it’s no longer Saban’s Alabama. Shoot, we’re gonna have “analyst Saban” on GameDay’s set returning to Tuscaloosa for this one. What can beat that? Given the timing, it feels like one of the most obvious preseason GameDay predictions ever. If ESPN announced this in early March, nobody would bat an eye.