In Week 6, ESPN’s College Gameday went to Berkeley, California for the first time in the history of the show. And in the eyes of College Gameday host Rece Davis, the University of California is now among one of the premier Gameday locations on the West Coast.
Going into Week 6 of the college football season, some thought that the decision by ESPN to go to the University of California for College Gameday was a bit of a strange decision. Cal isn’t exactly a college football powerhouse.
Despite largely being thought of as an afterthought location for College Gameday, Cal fans were up and ready to go far before the show ever started, storming the Gameday location several hours before the start of the show.
The energy from the crowd largely continued throughout the show. So much so that Rece Davis said he doesn’t know if there has been a better location for Gameday during his time on the show.
“We always say we can have a great show without a great crowd,” Davis said during an interview with Cameron Derby of KEZI 9 News in Eugene, Oregon. “But we don’t want to. We can have a better one when the crowd becomes another member, another character in the show. I don’t know in my ten years of doing this that anybody has done it better than Cal last week.”
Davis then went on to say that the Oregon Ducks, who are the host location of College Gameday in Week 7, need to “reclaim their place” as the top destination for the show on the West Coast.
“If Oregon wants to take that as a challenge, go ahead,” said Davis. “I’ve always said my favorite show of all-time is Washington State because of the 15-year crusade to get the show there. In the Pacific Northwest and in the West Coast, Washington has been phenomenal. I’ll sing a few bars of “Bow Down to Washington” if you like.
“But unless you want to bow down to Washington. And unless you want to acquiesce on the West Coast that the whole world is Bear territory. Oregon needs to reclaim its place tomorrow morning as far as the crowds. I’ve always said that by and large Oregon has been the standard bearer on the West Coast. Cal might have taken the title last week. Now, Oregon has a chance to answer. So let’s see what they’ve got.”
Rece Davis has a challenge for Ducks fans for @CollegeGameDay đź‘€#GoDucks pic.twitter.com/48yONqDSsA
— Cameron Derby (@CamDerbyTV) October 11, 2024
Saturday will mark Oregon’s 31st appearance on the show and 12th time hosting. Both are most among West Coast programs (USC is second with 24 appearances and has hosted 10 times).
Ducks fans should certainly be fired up ahead of the matchup with the No. 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday night, which should make for a great edition of College Gameday. However, it is quite interesting to hear that Davis at least believes Oregon now has some competition on the West Coast.
