With the College Football Playoff starting next week and spanning two days, ESPN is sending College GameDay to two separate schools for the final on-campus episodes of 2025.
On Wednesday, GameDay announced its destinations for the first round of the playoff. Friday will see the show go to Norman, Oklahoma for the big No. 8 Oklahoma vs. No. 9 Alabama game. The following day, they will head to College Station, Texas as No. 7 Texas A&M hosts No. 10 Miami.
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“Two days. Two shows. Next week, we’re heading to Norman on Friday and College Station on Saturday for the first round of the College Football Playoff!” GameDay announced.
Disappointed Fans
Fans pretty quickly expressed how frustrating it was to see ESPN choosing to go to two separate SEC-hosted football games, but also recognized that it’s probably better than going to the games featuring Tulane or James Madison since the points spread is so heavy.
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“People will call it SEC bias when the only non SEC game is the JMU slaughter fest,” one user remarked.
“Does anyone actually want to watch OU and Bama play?” another asked.
“(We don’t care),” a third wrote, sharing a Stephen A. Smith meme.
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 1: (L-R) Desmond Howard, Rece Davis, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN College GameDay appear on set before the Rose Bowl between Ohio State Buckeyes and Oregon Ducks at Rose Bowl Stadium on January 1, 2025 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images)Ric Tapia/Getty Images
The first round of the College Football Playoff features the aforementioned matchups plus No. 6 Ole Miss hosting No. 11 Tulane (the AAC champion) and No. 5 Oregon hosting No. 12 James Madison (the Sun Belt champion).
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Controversy has been abound ever since the announcement was made. The four teams with a bye that won’t be playing in the first round are No. 1 Indiana, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Texas Tech.
On New Year’s Eve, Ohio State will play the Miami-Texas A&M winner in the Cotton Bowl. Texas Tech will play the JMU-Oregon winner in the Orange Bowl. Indiana will play the Oklahoma-Alabama winner in the Rose Bowl. Finally, the Tulane-Ole Miss winner will play Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
The winners of the Sugar Bowl and Cotton Bowl will face off in the Fiesta Bowl on January 8. The Orange Bowl and Rose Bowl winners will square off in the Peach Bowl on January 9.
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The national championship game will be played on January 19.
This story was originally published by The Spun on Dec 10, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
