ESPN's College GameDay headed to Alabama next week, not Gophers
Mohamed Ibrahim #24 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers is tackled by Zamir Mickens #17 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the second quarter at SHI Stadium on October 19, 2019 in Piscataway, New Jersey. ((Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS - The biggest game in the history of TCF Bank Stadium will be nationally televised, but it won’t involve ESPN’s College GameDay crew.
The show announced Saturday morning that it’s heading to Tuscaloosa next week as No. 1-ranked LSU visits No. 2-ranked Alabama. College GameDay has never been to Minnesota, and the set up was seemingly perfect with No. 13-ranked Minnesota (8-0, 5-0) hosting No. 5-ranked Penn State (8-0).
It will be the biggest Gophers’ home game since Glen Mason’s 2003 squad hosted Michigan on a Friday night in October in the Metrodome. The Gophers are asking fans to wear Maroon to the game.
After the Gophers’ 52-10 win over Maryland last Saturday, coach PJ Fleck made a more than three-minute speech during his postgame press conference to invite ESPN to Dinkytown. He made the points that Minneapolis has hosted an NCAA Final Four and a Super Bowl, so naturally, College Gameday is next.
Minnesota is one of 10 locations that College GameDay has yet to visit. They could still come to Minneapolis later this month, when the Gophers host rival Wisconsin to end the regular season. The game would likely have to have the Big Ten West division at stake for that to happen.
The Gophers are off to their first 8-0 start since 1941, and they’re also 5-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since the 1960s. They’ve out-scored five Big Ten opponents by a combined 206-72. In last Saturday’s win over Maryland, senior running back Rodney Smith became the Gophers’ all-time leader in total yards, passing Darrell Thompson, the current radio analyst for Minnesota football.
Minnesota is on a bye this week, then finishes at home against Penn State, at Iowa, at Northwestern and the home finale against Wisconsin.