The Big 12 is getting the ESPN College GameDay spotlight for a second consecutive Saturday. After spending Week 7 in Provo for BYU’s massive showdown against Notre Dame, College GameDay announced Sunday that it will head to Salt Lake City for Houston’s Week 8 matchup against Utah.
That means the biggest pregame show in college football will spend back-to-back Saturdays at Big 12 stadiums in the state of Utah.
And after what happened in Week 7, the conference has certainly earned the attention.
BYU delivered one of the biggest wins of the college football season by knocking off No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 in front of a national audience Saturday night. The victory kept the Cougars undefeated and gave the Big 12 another major non-conference win for its College Football Playoff résumé.
Now the attention shifts about 45 miles north to Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Utah enters Week 8 undefeated at 6-0 after surviving Colorado 27-24 on Saturday night. Houston, meanwhile, improved to 6-1 with a 35-32 win over No. 18 Oklahoma State, giving the Cougars another impressive Big 12 victory under Willie Fritz.
Houston’s only loss this season came against Texas Tech, which is also undefeated and firmly in the Big 12 championship race.
The result is another huge conference game with legitimate Big 12 Championship and College Football Playoff implications.
It’s also another reminder of just how much national attention the Big 12 is generating this season.
College GameDay’s trip to Provo was its first visit to BYU since 2009. One week later, ESPN isn’t leaving Big 12 country, or even the state of Utah.
And with BYU, Texas Tech and Utah still undefeated, while Houston remains right in the middle of the conference championship race, there should be no shortage of Big 12 storylines for the GameDay crew to discuss next Saturday.
