When Silicon Valley creator Mike Judge faced backlash because, critics said, his show spoofing 2010s tech culture was too white and male, Judge responded by essentially saying, We can only satirize the world as it is, not as we wish it to be.
And so it is with us College GameDay projectionists. Yes, there's a lot of SEC and Big Ten here. Too much, I agree. And yet, we can only project the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. Seemingly each week, one school with multiple national championships is playing another. Sometimes there are two ultra-huge-mega blockbusters in a single week. And if one conference happens to have a light week, the other has its A game. It's almost as if these conferences acquired as many stones as they could get their hands on to become real-life Thanos at the expense of everyone else, and then arranged their schedules in such a way to hog as many eyeballs as possible.
All rankings via ESPN's Way Too Early Top 25.
Week 1 (Sept. 5)
Last year, this was a top-10 matchup on Opening Saturday. Both teams went on to be among the season's biggest underachievers, but only the winners of last year's game fired their coach. That prelude sets up one of the biggest storylines of the season, and so GameDay will be on hand for Lane Kiffin's debut in Clemson at No. 11 LSU. And yes -- scout's honor -- we had this one pegged before it leaked. It's not as if there were many other options.
Runner-up: None really, but Boise State at No. 2 Oregon
Week 2 (Sept. 12)
We told you to write this one in ink last year, and the only aspect of our prediction that we got wrong was that, mercifully, Pat McAfee did not make Lee Corso's farewell about him. If Coach was still doing the show, he'd put on the Bevo headgear this time for No. 1 Ohio State at No. 5 Texas.
Runner-up: No. 13 Oklahoma at No. 14 Michigan
Week 3 (Sept. 19)
ESPN, SEC Network and hopefully Bravo will have every camera they own in Oxford for No. 11 LSU at No. 9 Ole Miss. (Major props for putting this game in Oxford and not Baton Rouge, by the way.) I want to go on record now and state Lane's general demeanor this whole week will be, "It's just a football game, guys. What's the big deal?"
Runner-up: Florida State at No. 16 Alabama
Week 4 (Sept. 26)
Week 4 gives us one of two meetings of defending FBS conference champions, but somehow I don't see the show going to Kalamazoo for MW champ Boise State at MAC champ Western Michigan. By preseason ranking, the SEC game listed below would be the more convenient logistical and business choice, but we project GameDay will leave SEC country for No. 2 Oregon at No. 20 USC.
Runner-up: No. 13 Oklahoma at No. 3 Georgia
Week 5 (Oct. 3)
The biggest Power 4 game of the week is Miami at Clemson, but we've already hit a Clemson game and Miami is coming up later this year. Why not return to the site of the largest crowd in GameDay history? It's not Columbus, College Station or Tuscaloosa, but Harrisonburg, Va., for a rematch of the last two Sun Belt champions in Marshall at James Madison.
Runner-up: Miami at Clemson
Week 6 (Oct. 10)
In reality, the choice will likely come down to the winner of the Sept. 26 Oklahoma-Georgia game in Athens. We're taking the Dawgs in that one. Furthermore, GameDay started traveling on a weekly basis in 1996. Alabama and Georgia have played 15 times since then, and the show was on hand for 12 of them. For that reason, we're going with No. 3 Georgia at No. 16 Alabama.
Runner-up: No. 5 Texas vs. No. 13 Oklahoma
Week 7 (Oct. 17)
Indiana has hosted twice previously, a Thursday to open the 2017 season, and a 2024 game against Washington. So, one time as a de facto host for a season preview show, and then another as a curiosity. An undefeated, defending champion Hoosier team hosting Ohio State will be IU's GameDay debut as a national power. The choice is No. 1 Ohio State at No. 6 Indiana.
Runner-up: No. 4 Notre Dame at No. 12 BYU
Week 8 (Oct. 24)
For the sake of #content, we're hoping and praying that Brendan Sorsby successfully sues his way back on to the field because if so the obvious choice is No. 8 Texas Tech at Cincinnati.
Runner-up: No. 9 Ole Miss at No. 5 Texas in the Basket Weaving Bowl
Week 9 (Oct. 31)
It's a shame for the ACC that Clemson at Florida State is not the obvious choice here. Ditto for Miami at North Carolina. Alas, you have to be competitive to host GameDay and right now that feels like too big a leap for the Seminoles and the Tar Heels. Instead, we're sending Rece and the gang to the mountains for the first time since 2009 for Arizona State at No. 12 BYU.
Runner-up: Clemson at Florida State, I guess
Week 10 (Nov. 7)
There's a real chance that Nov. 7 is the greatest regular season day in college football history, with a projected six top-25 matchups, including a possible No. 1 vs. No. 2 game in Oregon at Ohio State, the Deep South Super Bowl in No. 16 Alabama at No. 11 LSU, a CFP quarterfinal rematch in No. 3 Georgia at No. 9 Ole Miss, arguably the most heated rivalry in the game in No. 12 BYU at No. 18 Utah, plus historic powers No. 13 Oklahoma and No. 15 Penn State visiting historic venues (Florida, Washington) for the first time in living memory thrown in as garnishes to the main dish. With the acknowledgment that all of the above are clear choices, we'll take the show to a new venue this season for No. 7 Miami at No. 5 Notre Dame.
Runner-up: Take your pick
Week 11 (Nov. 14)
This game was originally supposed to happen in 2020, but six years later we're finally getting No. 5 Texas at No. 11 LSU, the first Texas game in Death Valley since 1953 and the first of hopefully many Sark-Kiffin battles. Winner gets Easton Royal.
Runner-up: No. 20 USC at No. 6 Indiana
Week 12 (Nov. 21)
If GameDay goes elsewhere on the 7th, No. 22 SMU at No. 5 Notre Dame is the obvious choice here. But since the traveling circus was in South Bend just two weeks ago in our world, we'll instead send them to College Station for No. 13 Oklahoma at No. 10 Texas A&M.
Week 13 (Nov. 28)
The fall of Auburn, Florida, Florida State, UCLA and the movement of Texas-A&M to Black Friday hollows out the Rivalry Saturday schedule for No. 14 Michigan at No. 1 Ohio State. If only Diego Pavia had gotten a seventh season, then we could have gone to Nashville for Tennessee-Vanderbilt. This is our third Buckeye game, and we're skipping arguably the biggest game of their season (No. 2 Oregon), plus their trip to USC. Insane.
Runner-up: No. 17 Washington at No. 2 Oregon
Week 14 (Dec. 5)
With the Playoff stupidly on ESPN, the most-watched college football game to air on ABC in each of the past two seasons was the SEC Championship. Even with prominent figures within the conference calling for the game's abolition, we're still projecting the show to return to Atlanta for the fourth straight year overall.
Runner-up: Big Ten Championship
So, that's 10 shows originating from an SEC or Big Ten location in 14 weeks, and it felt like we went out of our way to avoid those two conferences a couple times in the remaining four. It sounds unbelievable, until you consider that in the previous two seasons of the New World Order, GameDay was on a Power 2 campus an insane 14 times in 15 weeks in 2024 (skipping only for Miami at Cal, accidentally showcasing a battle of future No. 1 picks) and a more modest 11-of-15 last season (and one of the other four was Florida at Miami).