College GameDay visiting Kentucky in Week 3 is very possible

One of the most memorable moments in Kentucky football history occurred back in 2007. Following a home win over No. 1 LSU, ESPN’s “College GameDay” visited Lexington for the first time for No. 8 Kentucky vs. No. 14 Florida. But there has been a long drought since that trip.

That long streak might end in Week 3.

After starting the season in Ireland and College Station, the most popular pregame show in sports is heading to Ann Arbor this weekend for Texas vs. Michigan but the location for Week 3 is still unknown. That destination could be Lexington.

On a podcast with Scott Van Pelt, ESPN’s Stanford Steve teased a potential trip for “College GameDay” to Lexington.

“I’m thinking Kentucky’s going to beat South Carolina next week. ‘GameDay’ could possibly be in Lexington for Georgia’s visit, which will be fun because that place gets as jazzed up as anybody. But when 7:30 Eastern comes, let’s see what you got. Coach Stoops will be fired up for that opportunity. I really want that to happen,” Stanford Steve said. “I would love to see that because there’s nothing better than the No. 1 team on the road. It sets up for a great atmosphere. It’s what makes college football great.”

Could that really happen? It seems like the current favorite pending a Kentucky win over South Carolina. KSR is breaking down the reasons why.

Staying away from FOX

ESPN and FOX are rivals. That seems pretty clear. The four-letter network just started a huge media rights deal with the SEC that will include multiple games on ABC every Saturday. FOX has signed the Big Ten to an even bigger media rights deal which will mean no Big Ten Conference games on ABC or ESPN. Those two entities even have competing pregame shows with FOX’s “Big Noon Kickoff” going head-to-head against “College GameDay”. ESPN will not want to go head-to-head at a FOX location very often.

But sometimes that is unavoidable.

Texas at Michigan is clearly the top game in Week 2 and both pregame shows will be live at the Big House. The Week 3 schedule does not have a clear top game.

Alabama travels to Wisconsin next week. The Badgers will very likely be unranked when Kalen DeBoer brings his first Crimson Tide team to Camp Randall Stadium. “Big Noon Kickoff” will be in Madison but it’s unlikely that “College GameDay” will follow.

Light schedule

Teams are still getting through the non-conference portion of their schedule. That means some lighter Saturday slates in September. The Week 3 schedule is one of those. Let’s look at some of the options of power conference vs. power conference matchups that include a current ranked team.

• No. 1 Georgia at Kentucky
• No. 3 Oregon at Oregon State
• No. 5 Alabama at Wisconsin
• No. 6 Ole Miss at Wake Forest
• No. 7 Notre Dame at Purdue
• Memphis at No. 10 Florida State
• Boston College at No. 11 Missouri
• No. 13 LSU at South Carolina
• No. 21 Arizona at No. 18 Kansas State (Friday)
• No. 20 Texas A&M at Florida

Arizona vs. Kansas State feels like the week’s best game but that contest in Manhattan occurs on Friday night taking it off the table. Memphis-Florida State, LSU-South Carolina, and Texas A&M-Florida were all options but all of those ranked teams took a loss in Week 0/Week 1. Oregon-Oregon State is a fun rivalry matchup but that is a FOX game.

Kentucky is likely a win away from entering the top 25. That makes the game against No. 1 Georgia on the road very enticing when compared to the rest of the slate.

One-stop shop

It’s also worth pointing out that Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Holly Rowe will be on the call for Georgia vs. Kentucky since the contest is is in the prime time slot on ABC. That means no additional travel is needed for Herbie and his beloved golden retriever.

Coming to Lexington makes a ton of sense.

“College GameDay” has not been to Kentucky in 17 years, there is the Georgia facing a former Georgia quarterback angle to sell, and allows ESPN to promote this new SEC prime time window the company paid a lot of money for on its most popular college football program.

Kentucky hosting “College GameDay” in Week 3 could be called the favorite at this point. Get ready to start brainstorming sign ideas if the Wildcats handle their business on Saturday.