Rece Davis pushes back on idea ESPN College GameDay is 'SEC-heavy'

With November on the horizon, ESPN’s College GameDay has put up record TV ratings. The show continues to see a viewership surge ahead of Week 10, which will take place ahead of Cincinnati at Utah.

But host Rece Davis has heard the discussions about whether College GameDay is too “SEC-heavy” this year. He predicted there could be some surprises in store for November.

Davis thinks College GameDay could head toward Big 12 or even American Conference games throughout November. Through the first nine weeks, the show has seen SEC teams play in seven games. But over the final games, he pointed to other notable matchups, starting with Week 10 at Utah.

“There has been some consternation in some quarters that it’s been SEC-heavy,” Davis said Tuesday on The Paul Finebaum Show. “You look at the projected sites for the month of November and I think you’re going to see a lot of Big 12, I think there are some American places that are on the docket and maybe also some potential for really off-the-radar places. We’re still covering the breadth of the sport. And I think a theme of ‘road test’ this week is kind of where we are with Cincinnati – one of the surprises, sort of the opposite of the imploding teams that we’ve talked about, the teams that have sort of quietly gotten themselves in position in the last month of the season. Now, they have to go pass a big road test, and we’ll be there for it.

“I love the fact that people get upset about it. I don’t love that they are upset, but I love the fact that they care enough about watching the show that if we don’t go to where they think we should be, that they raise a ruckus about it. That’s kind of fun.”

‘We don’t have to avoid a place just because somebody lost’

Rece Davis also acknowledged the amount of surprise results this year, notably with top teams. He specifically pointed to this week’s Penn State at Ohio State game. During the offseason, it was seen as a potential Big Ten Championship preview. That’s no longer the case amid the Nittany Lions’ struggles. But at the same time, he said sometimes the storylines change things.

“We don’t have to avoid a place just because somebody lost,” Davis said. “It was probably a fair critique that we didn’t go to Tallahassee, but you kind of understood in the moment after they lost that game to Virginia, things changed a little bit. Vanderbilt was a big story. It kind of made it, instead of an absolute easy choice, it made it a little bit of a push.

“Penn State’s implosion certainly changed the site this week. You look at this in August and you’re like, ‘Well, first Saturday in November, we’re in Columbus, for sure.’ Now, instead, we’re in Salt Lake City.”