When Penn State plays Ohio State, it is far from uncommon for ESPN to bring its traveling pregame show, College GameDay, to the campus hosting that year’s game. The Penn State-Ohio State matchup is tied for the most times being featured by GameDay (Alabama-LSU has also been featured 11 times). But this week will not see the GameDay bus roll into State College ahead of Penn State’s big home game against the Buckeyes. Instead, GameDay is heading elsewhere.
ESPN announced GameDay will instead be heading to Jackson State for its big rivalry game with Southern. It is the first time in program history GameDay is heading to an HBCU school on its season-long tour, but it should not be much of a surprise to see Jackson State being the school to finally bring GameDay to an HBCU.
With Deion Sanders as the head coach, Jackson State has been on the college football map like never before. The Tigers are off to a 7-0 start this season and games have rarely been close. The leaders in the SWAC East Division will host Southern, the leaders in the SWAC West Division.
Southern’s only two losses this season came against LSU and Texas Southern. The Jaguars are looking to get back to the SWAC Championship Game for the first time since 2019 and win its first conference championship since 2013. Jackson State won the SWAC title last year under Sanders in his first season as the head coach.
JACKSON STATE, WE’RE COMING TO YOUR CITY‼️
The epic HBCU rivalry matchup between @GeauxJags and @GoJSUTigersFB is up next! pic.twitter.com/MuT86mfg6Q
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 23, 2022
If there is one thing we know, it is that Sanders loves to live in the spotlight, and it is awesome to see Sanders find a way to bring the ESPN spotlight to an HBCU program and the HBCU world of college football as a whole.
So for now, Penn State’s 10th time hosting College GameDay will likely have to wait until next season at this point. The Ohio State game is the biggest game remaining on the home schedule for the Nittany Lions.
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