College GameDay passes on Coach Cal's return to Kentucky for Duke/UNC

College GameDay will not be in attendance for John Calipari‘s long-awaited return to Lexington as the head coach at Arkansas when the Razorbacks come to town on February 1. Instead, the crew featuring Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Jay Williams, Andraya Carter and Seth Greenberg will be at Cameron Indoor Stadium next Saturday when Duke hosts North Carolina.

They announced their decision to head to Durham during this morning’s edition of the show, live from Auburn ahead of the top-ranked Tigers’ matchup vs. No. 6 Tennessee.

It’s the 14th appearance for the GameDay crew at Cameron Indoor, the most visits to a venue by the ESPN program, beating North Carolina (12) and Kansas (12). They were just there for the same matchup a year ago on Saturday, March 9. Duke also has the most GameDay appearances overall — home or away — with 29, followed by North Carolina (27), Kansas (23) and Kentucky (22).

On the surface, it seems like a pretty poor decision on ESPN’s part to pass on a once-in-a-lifetime moment where a Hall of Fame coach returns to the place he called home for 15 years as a bitter SEC rival. Kentucky is holding up its end of the bargain under Mark Pope with the Wildcats seen as legitimate Final Four contenders, but Arkansas is a disaster this season, sitting at 12-7 on the year and currently projected to miss the NCAA Tournament. Maybe that’s the thinking?

But if that’s the case, how can you look at 12-8 North Carolina as any better with Hubert Davis fighting for his job every time the ball is tipped? A weak ACC slate is the only reason the Tar Heels are likely to sneak into the Big Dance, and even that isn’t a guarantee. Duke, sure, but give me a break on UNC being the better storyline — especially with a follow-up matchup in Chapel Hill on March 8.

Oh well. It’s gonna be a movie in Lexington next week whether GameDay is there or not.