It finally happened. For the first time in more than three years, College GameDay is heading to a Big 12 campus. This week, the Utah Utes host the Cincinnati Bearcats in Salt Lake City, where ESPN’s crew will be in attendance. On the surface, that’s good news for the conference. But underneath that point is a bigger and deeper issue: the Big 12 has been left in the cold by what’s supposed to be the most visible pre‑game show in college football.
We broke it down in detail this week, after sitting down to watch the Week 9 broadcast of GameDay from start to finish. It took 78 minutes before the Big 12 got more than a token mention. In that time, there was more discussion about an FCS matchup on ESPNU than anything involving the Big 12, other than a quick Thamel injury update and a brief appearance from BYU in a promo graphic. It wasn’t just disappointing. It was predictable. And that’s the problem.
This isn’t just about feeling left out. The Big 12 has teams in the Top 25, meaningful games every weekend, and some of the most intense fan bases in the country. What it doesn’t have, apparently, is ESPN’s attention. Since Oklahoma and Texas were featured in 2023, the last true Big 12 campus to host GameDay was Kansas for TCU back in October 2022.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: the relationship between the Big 12 and ESPN served its purpose when it had to. The conference needed survival. It got it. But that doesn’t mean it owes loyalty forever. As media rights evolve and alternatives like TNT continue to show up for the league with actual consistency, it might be time for the Big 12 to take the hint. GameDay is still the big show, but every week, it feels a little less relevant when it refuses to reflect the actual landscape.
GameDay going to Salt Lake City this weekend is definitely a victory, but it’s still a reminder that it took far too long.
