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Could ESPN's College Gameday Be Coming to UCF?

ESPN's Pregame Show Might Make a Trip to Orlando This Year

NCAA Football: Michigan at Ohio State Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

Following the UCF Knights' dominant win over SMU, they have the nation's longest winning streak at 18 games. As some Knights fans look for national respect, one of the questions this season is how long can UCF keep the winning streak going?

That's a question that may interest ESPN's College Gameday enough to make a visit to Orlando. UCF has never hosted College Gameday and has only been involved in one College Gameday show, which has an asterisk, as it was a season opener special at South Carolina in 2005 on a Thursday night as ESPN focused on Steve Spurrier's first game as the Gamecocks' head coach.

Still, College Gameday tends to go to unique places and likes to hit spots where it has not been before. Could UCF be on the radar?

Let's take a look at UCF's best chance to host Gameday:


November 17 vs. Cincinnati

Competition: Stanford at California, Miami at Virginia Tech

Gameday has not been to California. Cal in fact is one of the few places that has turned them down. However, with Stanford having multiple losses and California not even ranked, this game is going in a downward spiral.

Miami-Virginia Tech would be favorites as the game could be for the Coastal Division. However, the Hokies have two losses already and who knows what record will be by the time Miami rolls into town?

FCS Games: Southern Illinois at North Dakota State, Penn at Princeton, James Madison at Towson.

Gameday likes to go to FCS games every so often. The three games above are the most attractive FCS games Gameday may consider. They have been to Fargo and love that place. They may want to go back if North Dakota State is undefeated. James Madison and Towson could be a real showdown in the CAA. This would also be a favorite of FCS games.

But here's my pitch on why College Gameday should come to Orlando for Cincinnati-UCF.

1. UCF would be on a 22-game winning streak. That would be a fun topic as far as if they should be considered for the Playoff.

2. College Gameday has never been to UCF. That would cross another school off the list. Here are the current Power Six schools that have never hosted Gameday:

California, Illinois, Syracuse, Kansas, Washington State, Navy, East Carolina, SMU, South Florida, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Memphis, Tulsa, Tulane, and UCF.

Houston and Temple are the only schools from the AAC that has hosted College Gameday.

Houston hosted it on November 19, 2011, which had the infamous Lee Corso F-Bomb on air:

Temple hosted Gameday on October 31, 2015, when the Owls hosted Notre Dame. That is only time Gameday been to AAC school since the league began in 2013.

3. It would mark a homecoming for Lee Corso who has been a big part of Gameday and lives in Orlando.

4. Cincinnati could be a team that is a threat to break the streak. Cincinnati could also be ranked by the time the game rolls around. The Bearcats are currently 6-0.

Here is a look at Cincinnati schedule: at Temple, at SMU, vs Navy, vs. South Florida. Cincinnati has a chance to go 3-1 at least and be 9-1 coming to Orlando. At worst, a split and 8-2 is still not bad vs. a Top 10 UCF team.

5. Florida A&M and Bethune Cookman are also playing in Orlando. Gameday could cover two College Football games in Orlando if they wanted to give some love to the Florida Classic.

Now one interesting question would be: Who would ESPN pick as the celebrity guest picker?

Here some candidates:

  • Comedian and UCF alum Daniel Tosh
  • Mo Bamba - Orlando Magic rookie. The Magic host the Lakers later that night.
  • George O'Leary - Former UCF Head Coach
  • Shaquille O'Neal - Former Magic player and hall of famer
  • Bubba Watson - two-time Masters Champion
  • Blake Bortles - The Jaguars host the Steelers on Sunday Night Football the next day, so this might be hard to pull off.
  • Cheryl Hines - Graduated from UCF in 1990, star actress on the TV hit Curb Your Enthusiasm. Rumors that a new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm could air on HBO by end of 2018. If that is the case, that could be a good spot for plug the season, although HBO is not owned by Disney.
  • Shaquem Griffin - This is my pick. Seahawks host Packers on Thursday night that week so Shaquem will be off that weekend and more than likely will be at the Cincinnati game, and I can see Gameday going with Shaquem with his story to be celeb guest picker.
  • Mickey Mouse - They have had a Mascot as guest picker before and ESPN is owned by...

In conclusion, I think with results on Saturday, IF UCF and Cincinnati keep on winning, College Gameday could indeed be coming to our city on November 17th as long as UCF, you know, keeps winning.