Rece Davis pushed for College GameDay to come to Memphis this weekend before the Tigers lost to UAB.
The weekly pregame show’s host revealed on the College GameDay Podcast this week that he advocated for the show to visit Memphis for Saturday’s showdown between the Tigers and No. 18 USF. Memphis was undefeated at the time. Then, UAB upset the Tigers 31-24 last weekend, and GameDay pivoted to No. 10 Vanderbilt hosting No. 15 Missouri in Nashville instead.
“Look, I had advocated for GameDay to go to Memphis prior to the Memphis loss,” Davis said. “And also, I think with it being a noon start on ESPN2, it would have complicated a trip to Memphis. That is one of the great GameDay sights we have ever had in my almost 11 years on the show. We shut down Beale Street. It was amazing.”
Davis was referencing GameDay’s September 2022 visit to Memphis for the Tigers’ game against Houston. The show shut down Beale Street and produced one of its better atmospheres in recent years. Memphis proved it could deliver the type of scene College GameDay thrives on without needing a traditional powerhouse attached to the matchup.
UAB ended those plans last Saturday. The Blazers, playing their first game after firing head coach Trent Dilfer, built a 14-point fourth-quarter lead and held on for the upset under interim head coach Alex Mortensen, the son of the late ESPN insider, Chris Mortensen. Memphis dropped to 6-1, losing its perfect record and any realistic shot at hosting GameDay.
The loss marked the seventh time in nine weeks this season that College GameDay will visit a game featuring an SEC team. Vanderbilt is 6-1 and ranked in the top 10 for the first time since 1947. Missouri is 5-1 and coming off an overtime road win at Auburn. Diego Pavia has been one of the best stories in college football. It’s a perfectly reasonable choice given the available options this week.
But Memphis would’ve offered something different — an undefeated Group of Five matchup with American Conference title implications and potential playoff ramifications. Instead, GameDay returns to Nashville for the first time since 2008 for another SEC game.
Pat McAfee defended the Vanderbilt-Missouri selection on his show Monday, noting that neither program has been featured heavily on GameDay in recent years. He also said No. 1 North Dakota State at No. 2 South Dakota State was a potential GameDay destination this weekend. The Dakota Marker rivalry game features two programs that have combined to win 12 of the last 14 FCS national championships. GameDay went to South Dakota State in 2018, where McAfee made his first appearance as a guest picker, filling in for Adam Vinatieri.
Memphis-USF aside, GameDay hasn’t visited an FCS school since 2022. The show’s last trip outside the Power Four conferences came at Army-Navy in December 2023. GameDay previously visited Appalachian State-James Madison in November 2023, drawing a record crowd for the pregame show.
Memphis losing to UAB eliminated what would’ve been a rare opportunity this season for GameDay to feature a compelling matchup outside the sport’s traditional powers. The Tigers host USF on Saturday at noon on ESPN2. GameDay will be 200-some miles away in Nashville.
