Will the College Gameday Crew Come to Stillwater for OSU’s Battle Against TCU?

Before the season started, I broke down what I thought were Oklahoma State’s best chances of landing ESPN’s College Football Gameday in Stillwater, including ranking all six of OSU’s home games.

Well it just so happens that the game that I ranked No. 1 on that list, OSU vs. TCU, is next weekend. Not only that, it could be the only matchup between two ranked teams.

As of now, the only other game pitting two ranked teams is UCLA at Stanford. But with the Trees going down to the Trojans last week, the odds of them hosting has likely decreased. ESPN likes to stick to marquee match-ups between ranked opponents. And at this point in the season, there’s no reason to visit teams that have already lost a game.

So the question now is, will it happen?

The biggest competition that week actually comes from two games that, as of now, only feature one ranked opponent each: Penn State at Iowa, USC at California.

At least one former ESPN Sportscenter anchor agrees with me:

Definitely possible Gameday is in Iowa City for Penn St.

TCU at Okie St. is biggest threat. But CGD was in Stillwater in 2015.

— Chris Hassel (@Hassel_Chris) September 11, 2017

Looking at this week’s schedule, Penn State and Iowa should both be undefeated after the weekend; the Nittany Lions face 0-1 Georgia Southern at home, while Iowa plays 1-1 North Texas at home. As of now, Iowa is among the many teams receiving votes in both polls. However, a win over North Texas isn’t likely to spring them into the Top 25.

However, ESPN loves the Big 10 like they love the SEC and that game is the ABC night game, which ESPN more often than not, sends Gameday to. The marquee football show also hasn’t made a trip to Iowa City since 2006.

Likelihood: 6/10

As far as USC at Cal, The Trojans are finally nationally relevant again and any chance to get them on t.v. would be O.K. with the decision makers at ESPN. Throw in the fact they have tried to host the show at Cal before, and it fell through, makes me think this is a legitimate option. However, Cal, like Iowa, is nowhere near being ranked in the Top-25, despite being 2-0 with a win over North Carolina. If they knock off Ole Miss this weekend though, it will be hard for ESPN to ignore the opportunity.

Likelihood: 7/10

One note, I thought seriously about putting Colorado and Washington on this list, especially since it will be the best game either team will have played up to this point. But I can’t seem Gameday passing on the other two options, or OSU vs. TCU for this one.

As far as OSU vs. TCU goes, OSU has the biggest challenge of all five teams in question, as they head to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers. TCU welcomes SMU to Forth Worth, and while I think the Mustangs will score more this week than Arkansas did last week, the Horned Frogs should escape unscathed.

I’ll knock on wood because I don’t ever like to assume, or do anything that might awaken Squinky, but if OSU can get out of Pitt with a big win, there’s a real chance Gameday comes to Stillwater next weekend.

Likelihood: 9/10