GameDay going to Bedlam, not the Civil War?
College GameDay is apparently going to Stillwater, OK for the OU/OSU game instead of coming out west to Corvallis for the Civil War. Obviously this doesn’t affect how big this game is to Oregon State and Oregon fans but it is a nice exclamation point to put on a big game. Here are the reasons they aren’t coming:
1. TV Network: The big reason is whomever made the Versus TV deal pulled the trigger early, blocking ABC/ESPN broadcasting rights. There is precedent for GameDay going to games not on their family of networks (SEC games on CBS) but it doesn’t help the cause. Obviously whoever it was (not sure if this is a OSU/UO thing or a Pac-10 thing) was trying to guarantee the game the largest exposure possible but Versus? Really? This network is technically national but many cable companies, including the one in my hometown of Bend, charge extra for the channel. No doubt fans of these two schools will benefit by the game being on a “national” network (and Versus does have a great HD feed) but the Civil War on this channel is sort of like the MLB playoffs airing on TBS, only worse. The OSU/UO fans will indeed find this game but casual fans will default to the ESPN/ABC/CBS games making the “national exposure” argument null. The bigger issue here is the Pac-10 desperately needs a big-time TV contract ala the SEC and CBS.
2. (Other) Big-time games: The Civil War is going to be huge this year but there are other big games, including the Bedlam game, that have bigger implications. Any self respecting OSU or UO fan will tell you this is “one of the best rivalry games in the country” but the fact is it’s huge for us fans but on a national scale isn’t quite there yet; the east coasters still consider both teams “cute”. Fact is there are simply games with national championship implications this week that will draw bigger numbers. It also doesnt help the Civil War out that the Big-12 has been the epicenter of college football this year.
3. Corvallis: Ever since Kirk Herbstreit started calling the ABC Saturday Night Football games GameDay has been aired from that site frequently, allowing him an easier schedule. The fact ABC couldn’t get the game and schedule it for 5:00pm PST doesn’t help the cause since he would have to fly east out of Corvallis (not sure if there is a jet-friendly airport) to whichever game is on ABC Saturday night (UF/FSU, OU/OSU or USC/ND-no big deal for that one).
4. Cache: There are a lot of people out there who wish their rivals to lose, and find this almost as enjoyable as their own team winning. These people are clueless and probably never had the talent or cajones to get it (whatever “it” may be) done for themselves. Fact is this game and these two teams do not have the cache of the other rivalries and/or teams. This game is hugemongo for fans from the two schools but this scenario is old news for a lot of rivalries. Consider this: we are talking about how this year’s game is maybe the second biggest Civil War ever, while the Ohio State/Michigan game’s dominating story was when was the last time the game didn’t have national implications. The point is a true college football fan wants their rival to be the second best team in the country. The players do; after all, winners like winning big games. These teams need to BOTH keep winning 8,9,10 and even 11 games a year in order for this rivalry to truly take the national stage. I also think they could do some things to promote it better. How cool would it be to play it in Portland if there were a worthy stadium? The media LOVES P-Town and a weekend festival could provide an interesting dynamic, just like the Cocktail Party or Red River Shootout. It could be the “Platypus Bowl,” hmmm….
3 years ago