Paul Finebaum reveals ESPN College GameDay was going to Kentucky prior to loss to South Carolina

ESPN College GameDay was set to travel to Lexington for Week 3’s matchup between Kentucky and No. 1 Georgia — until their performance against South Carolina, according to SEC analyst Paul Finebaum.

The Gamecocks defeated the Wildcats 31-6 at home in what head coach Mark Stoops called and “embarrassing” performance on both sides of the ball for his squad. Unable to stop the Gamecocks offense and being forced to punt seven times against a team that struggled to move the ball against Old Dominion the previous week — the Wildcats might be in for a long night under the lights inside Kroger Field.

CLICK HERE to go to PrizePicks and use code ON3 to receive a guaranteed $50 once you play $5 in lineups!

“For GameDay to go Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan. I mean, they go every year, sometimes twice,” Finebaum told Matt Barrie on Sunday. “They don’t go to Lexington but once every 20 years or so, so I mean, that loss [against South Carolina] that doesn’t mean much other the fact that they’re playing the number one team in the country.”

Finebaum said that if Kentucky wasn’t playing Georgia this week, GameDay likely wouldn’t have considered Lexington as a landing spot. Instead, the crew has opted to travel to Columbia for South Carolina vs. LSU. In other words, the Gamecocks came into Kroger Field, beat down the Wildcats and took their first chance to host ESPN College GameDay since 2018.

Watch College Football Games Live -Try for Free Fubo! Click HERE NOW

Save $30 on your first month of Fubo by CLICKING HERE NOW! For a limited time, you can get your first month of Fubo for as low as $49.99. Stream ESPN, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and 200+ top channels of live TV and sports without cable. (Participating plans only. Taxes and fees may apply.)

Finebaum said ESPN College GameDay’s decision to go to South Carolina is one of the more “bizarre” choices to host college football’s marquee show.

Still, it’s hard to justify Kirk Herbstreit, Rece Davis and the rest of the crew to come to Lexington after the Wildcats laid an egg against South Carolina. UK mustered 44 passing yards as both Brock Vandargriff and Gavin Wimsatt combined for 6 of 17 passing with an interception each. The running game would have been impressive if it weren’t for the Wildcats 11 penalties that negated much of those would-be yards.

Instead, the ‘Cats will have to prepare for the top-ranked team in the country under the radar. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET live on ABC.