On the Line: GameDay won't cover the FCS Game of the Year, but we will

Coaches love to say that our actions speak so loud they can't hear what we're saying and, well, what do College GameDay's actions tell us? The ultimate question for college football's preeminent pregame show is, When push meets shove, are you promoting college football or promoting ESPN's coverage of college football? 

Well, nine weeks in, what are ESPN's actions telling us? 

No. 15 Mizzou at No. 10 Vanderbilt is a great story -- GameDay has already been to a Vandy game this season, but this is the show's first trip to Nashville since 2008 -- but, pound for pound, Tigers-Dores is not close to the biggest game in college football this weekend.

We've got a 1 vs. 2 game in FCS on Saturday. The last time South Dakota State lost to someone other than North Dakota State, it was the FCS semifinals of 2021. The Jackrabbits fell to Montana State, who would ultimately fall to North Dakota State in the FCS title game. The 'Rabbits then ripped off 34 straight wins over sub-FBS competition until losing to NDSU in the Fargodome last October, in another 1 vs. 2 game. The teams met again in the Fargodome in the FCS semifinals, and again the Bison came out on top, 28-21. 

North Dakota State and South Dakota State have won the last four FCS national championships, and 12 of the last 14 (though 10 of those belong to the Bison). At least one of these programs has played for the FCS title every year but one since 2011, and the only team to beat NDSU in an FCS National Championship since the Bison claimed ownership of the entire subdivision was South Dakota State.

So, we've established that the Bison and the Jackrabbits are really, really good. What about Saturday's game (8 p.m. ET, ESPNU)? 

Well, I regret to inform you that that defending national champion Bison are once again an absolute unit. NDSU leads FCS in scoring defense, total defense, passing yards allowed, and passing efficiency, and they're top-10 in a collection of other statistics. The most important: sixth in scoring offense (43.6 points per game), pass efficiency defense, turnover margin, third down offense, third down defense. The list goes on and on. No one has played this team to within 17 points, and only No. 18 Illinois State managed to do that. After Cam Miller led FCS in passing efficiency last season, senior Cole Payton has stepped in to once again lead the nation by a relative mile -- 74 percent passing for 12.9 per attempt with 11 touchdowns against one pick. The key statistic there may be that Payton has only had to throw 121 passes through seven games, because NDSU is fifth in the nation in rushing at 242 yards per game and hasn't trailed in the second half for one second all season long.

If you're SDSU, how do you possibly win this game? You've got to lean into your relative strengths. The offense isn't as efficient as NDSU's, but the defense is neck-and-neck with the Bison. SDSU is also as good as anyone at turning people over: they've forced multiple turnovers in all but one game, and swiped four interceptions in each of their past two outings. 

That's a narrow road map to victory, sure, but beating NDSU is not easy. No one knows that more than South Dakota State.

As for GameDay, the argument can be made that the Dakota Marker is a great game but Vanderbilt is the better story. After all, the show has been to both NDSU and SDSU more recently than it's been to Vandy. But that's not the case for this next game. We called for this one back in May: GameDay has been to multiple FCS locations and a Division III game, but never stopped at Division II. Admittedly, Grand Valley State at Ferris State is not the matchup we envisioned in the spring -- preseason No. 6 Grand Valley State has slipped to No. 25 after a 20-19 upset loss to Saginaw Valley State on Saturday, but No. 1 Ferris State is worth the trip all on their own. 

Tony Anese's Bulldogs have won three of the last four D2 national titles, and this year's club has retained their No. 1 ranking thanks to a 7-0 start. Frankly, Ferris State has become almost too good for Division II: the Bulldogs are first in D2 in scoring offense and third in scoring defense, they ripped off 208 unanswered points over a 3-plus game stretch, and SP+ ranks them as the 140th-best team in all of college football, three spots below the Big 12's Oklahoma State and ahead of 13 FBS teams.

And there's even a mandatory SEC tie-in: you'd think GameDay would want to see what all the fuss is about in Big Rapids, Mich., after Trinidad Chambliss's success at Ole Miss. 

I'm not going to try to convince you that Grand Valley State can win this game, but that's not the point. It's about showing to the country that there's great college football outside the SEC, but apparently GameDay needs that reminder as much as anyone.

Additional Games:

-- UCLA at No. 2 Indiana (noon ET, Fox): It's a Big Noon game where Indiana is the main attraction. A compliment to the Hoosiers, or a comment on the lack of depth in the Big Ten with Michigan down and Ohio State off? Why not both? 

-- No. 8 Ole Miss at No. 13 Oklahoma (noon ET, ABC): There are six SEC teams with one loss in conference play, and four of them meet Saturday. I would argue none of the four have more to gain, and thus more to lose, than Ole Miss. Remaining on the Rebels' schedule after this: South Carolina, The Citadel, Florida and Mississippi State. Those teams are a combined 3-9 in SEC play, and one of the three was earned within that trio. Also, the only ranked team Ole Miss has beaten is LSU, and they aren't likely to remain ranked any longer. Assuming the Rebels win out -- a risky assumption, but go with me here -- an 11-1 Ole Miss is absolutely in the CFP, if not the SEC title game. A 10-2 Ole Miss might not have the resume to get in the field at all. 

-- Syracuse at No. 7 Georgia Tech (noon ET, ESPN): The numbers and the humans disagree on Georgia Tech's quality thus far. A Georgia Tech fan would likely say that last week's 27-18 win at Duke was much more impressive than the final score indicated. Brent Key would likely say he doesn't give a rip where any polls ranks his team, he's only concerned with beating Syracuse.

-- No. 16 Virginia at North Carolina (noon ET, ACC Network): The South's Oldest Rivalry came by its name honestly. It was born in 1892 -- the same year as the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, Auburn-Georgia -- and is tied for the second-longest continuing rivalry in FBS, trailing only Minnesota-Wisconsin. UNC leads 66-59-4 all-time, won last year, and has taken three of four, but enters Saturday a 10.5-point underdog at home. Wonder why? Also, Chandler Morris's relative interest in North Carolina -- and UNC's relative interest in him -- will be a storyline in this game.

-- No. 18 South Florida at Memphis (noon ET, ESPN2): Speaking of GameDay, this one had a great argument to host this week until the Tigers had their 10-game winning streak snapped by UAB last week. Bummer as it was, that loss makes this game even more important for Ryan Silverfield's bunch, who would go from the AP Top 25 to looking up at seven teams in the AAC standings in an 8-day span if they don't find a way to slow down USF, especially a run game that's top 20 per game and top 10 in explosives.

-- Northwestern at Nebraska (noon ET, FS1): We had AD Troy Dannen preaching patience this week, in Year 3 of the Matt Rhule era -- a week after getting bullied at Minnesota, and in an era where Curt Cignetti has taken Indiana much further in less time. All that to say, the longest honeymoon we'll ever see in this age of college football will be fully over if Rhule finds a way to lose to Northwestern at home.

-- Kansas State at Kansas (noon ET, TNT): Speaking of expired honeymoons, Kansas is a slight favorite at home against an opponent to whom its lost 16 straight. Go back to 1993 and K-State is 28-4 vs. KU. So, either Lance Leipold loses as a home favorite and falls to 0-5 in the Sunflower Showdown while dropping to 4-4 on the season, or Chris Klieman becomes the first K-State coach since Ron Prince to lose the Sunflower Showdown and drops to 3-5 on the year. Not saying history is going to repeat itself, but I include this for context of how the Wildcats view this series: K-State last lost to KU on Nov. 1, 2008; K-State fired Prince four days later.

-- Auburn at Arkansas (12:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network): It's resistible force meets movable object when Arkansas' defense, allowing 7.21 yards per play and 40 points a game against the SEC, meets an Auburn offense that's last in the SEC at 13.5 points per game in conference games. We'll get the opposite effect when Arkansas's offense squares off against Auburn's defense. The end result, I'm told, is that one of these teams will win this game.

-- No. 4 Alabama at South Carolina (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC): Just what the doctor ordered for Shane Beamer's team. This has all the makings of a trap game for the Crimson Tide -- their first unranked opponent after becoming the first SEC team to beat four AP top-20 teams in four consecutive weeks, and Kalen DeBoer has historically struggled on the road against unranked teams. But Alabama is in such a groove right now, and South Carolina's offense is in the opposite of a groove.

-- No. 15 Missouri at No. 10 Vanderbilt (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN): Calling it now, Missouri pulls the road upset. Corey Batoon's defense has successfully defended three running quarterbacks already in Jalon Daniels, LaNorris Sellers and Jackson Arnold (combined rushing totals: 37 carries for 11 yards), the pass rush is excellent, and Vanderbilt's run defense numbers have rested upon facing some of the least imposing ground games in the country, like No. 104 Alabama, No. 117 LSU and No. 121 South Carolina. 

-- No. 11 BYU at Iowa State (3:30 p.m. ET, Fox): What's the name for a trap game so obvious it can't really be a trap anymore? Do the Germans have one? Anyway, a week after beating rival Utah at home, BYU has to visit the black hole that is Jack Trice Stadium; the Cyclones are 2.5-point favorites.

-- No. 23 Illinois at Washington (3:30 p.m. ET, BTN): Illinois's schedule after this one might be the easiest in the country -- Rutgers, Maryland, at Wisconsin, Northwestern. Would 10-2 with no ranked wins get Illinois into the Playoff? Probably not, but let's see 'em try. Many people have called Illinois the Ole Miss of the Big Ten.

-- Minnesota at Iowa (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS): The Hawkeyes and Golden Gophers will battle for the Floyd of Rosedale for the 119th time. Minnesota leads the all-time series 63-53-2, and is 31-12 since 1982. 

-- Oklahoma State at No. 14 Texas Tech (4 p.m. ET, ESPNU): The joke is that every game in the Big 12 is a 3-point spread. So what's it say that Tech is a 38.5-point favorite in this one?

-- No. 22 Texas at Mississippi State (4:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network): Texas is playing away from Austin for the fourth consecutive week. To end this extended road trip 3-1, they'll probably need more than 13 points in regulation.

-- Stanford at No. 9 Miami (7 p.m. ET, ESPN): The last time Stanford played at Whatever They're Calling It Now Stadium in Miami, Andrew Luck, Jim Harbaugh and co. hammered ACC champion Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl to polish off a 12-1, No. 4-ranked season. That was 15 years ago, but might as well be 150.

-- No. 3 Texas A&M at No. 20 LSU (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC): Mike Elko's team is crossing a number of milestones -- first 7-0 start, highest AP ranking -- not seen since the mid-90s. Now, he looks for A&M's first win at Tiger Stadium since 1994. The home team has won eight in a row in this series. *Taps sign.*

-- No. 25 Michigan at Michigan State (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC): Michigan looks to extend its win streak over Michigan State to four, which would be the longest since taking six straight from 2002-07. Meanwhile, Michigan State looks to halt its streak of consecutive losses by a 38-13 score at two.

-- Colorado State at Wyoming (7:30 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network): One team has fired their head coach, the other their OC. Maybe not the most hyped Border War ever, but it's a Border War nonetheless. Colorado State leads 60-51-5 all-time and won 24-10 last fall in Fort Collins, but Wyoming won seven of eight before that.

-- No. 17 Tennessee at Kentucky (7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network): The fifth and final back-to-back road game of the day in the SEC. Tennessee leads this "rivalry" 84-26-9; Kentucky has lodged three wins in the last 40 contests.

-- Houston at No. 24 Arizona State (8 p.m. ET, ESPN2): Five teams are within a game of first in the Big 12, and Houston -- 3-6 in league play a year ago -- is one of the five. Arizona State, meanwhile, is 9-1 in its last 10 Big 12 games.