Coastal Carolina is pitching to host College GameDay for this coming Saturday, and the Chanticleers have a good argument.
The 9-0 Chants, already champions of the Sun Belt East, are taking a break from league play to host Liberty on Saturday. It's the only meeting of 9-win teams to date this season, and the 18-1 combined records of the participants is easily the best on the Dec. 5 schedule.
The game admittedly lost some luster when Liberty lost to NC State on Nov. 21 but.... have you seen the rest of the schedule for this coming Saturday? Woof.
The only ranked-on-ranked matchup of the entire slate will be No. 12 Indiana at No. 16 Wisconsin, a game that lost nearly all of its shine when Indiana fell to Ohio State and Wisconsin lost to Northwestern on Nov. 21.
Other than that it'll be a day full of Playoff contenders taking on teams out of contention for anything meaningful:
No. 1 Alabama at 3-4 LSU
No. 2 Notre Dame vs. 1-9 Syracuse
No. 3 Clemson at 4-5 Virginia Tech
No. 4 Ohio State at 2-3 Michigan State
No. 5 Texas A&M at 5-3 Auburn
So not only is Saturday a perfect opportunity for GameDay to go off the beaten path, it also represents a long-awaited and richly-deserved nod for Coastal and the entire Sun Belt. Jamey Chadwell's team is the only 9-0 squad in Sun Belt history, and their No. 20 AP poll ranking (sure to rise this week with losses by No. 19 North Carolina, No. 17 Texas and No. 15 Oregon) is the highest in conference history. GameDay has never visited a Sun Belt location; the SBC and the current iteration of Conference USA are the only two FBS leagues to hold that distinction. The only appearance a Sun Belt team has ever made came when GameDay aired from the deck of the USS San Diego ahead of a Navy-Troy game in 2012. That means a ship deck, Times Square, even a golf course hosted GameDay while the entire Sun Belt has not. North Dakota State's hosted twice! Now's the time, GameDay. Now's the time.
Update: Now is the time.