ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Many Michigan football fans are planning to boycott ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday ahead of the Ohio State game because of the way the network has covered the sign-stealing case.
Saturday is the most important game of this college football season, as No. 3 Michigan hosts No. 2 Ohio State in a battle between two undefeated rivals. The winner will advance to the Big Ten Championship Game with a chance to lock up a spot in the College Football Playoff, while the loser goes home and awaits a non-playoff bowl assignment.
The stakes are incredibly high, and that’s why “College GameDay,” the sport’s most popular pregame show, is heading to Ann Arbor. But this time, not everybody is happy to have them.
In fact, it’s probably fair to say most are not.
Michigan’s sign-stealing controversy rocked the college football world over the past two months, and it has resulted in the resignation of analyst Connor Stalions, the firing of linebackers coach Chris Partridge, and the suspension of head coach Jim Harbaugh.
Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti banned Harbaugh from coaching the team’s final three regular-season games despite admissions from both the conference and the NCAA that no links have been found between Harbaugh and the scheme.
So far, only Stalions has been directly linked to wrongdoing. He bought tickets to games involving several of Michigan’s future opponents and sent people to those games to tape the sideline with cellphones.
Where does “College GameDay” fit into all of this? Many Michigan fans have taken issue with ESPN’s coverage of the sign-stealing case.
Pete Thamel, one of the ESPN employees who covered the case closely, plastered social media with story after story, framing every small new detail as breaking news along the way. It’s not confirmed where he was receiving his information, but that source had a very clear agenda to paint Michigan in a bad light.
Then, when Michigan started to leak its own information as a defense, Thamel was nowhere to be found.
ESPN also had a variety of pro-SEC and Ohio State alum talking heads piling on at every hour of the day, suggesting the Wolverines should be banned from the playoff. Even “College GameDay” host Rece Davis and panelist Pat McAfee joined the fracas.
Hence the frustration.
Many thought Michigan should tell ESPN to kick rocks this weekend, but Davis, McAfee, Thamel, and all the rest will be in Ann Arbor all the same. Thousands of Michigan fans are planning to boycott the show or use noisemakers during segments. Unless Desmond Howard is talking, of course.
It could be a very strange and volatile “College GameDay” atmosphere.
ESPN brings security, obviously, so it will have some level of control over the situation. There will also be plenty of visiting Ohio State fans happy to attend the broadcast and demand blood for the sign-stealing operation. So anyone hoping for a completely barren Ferry Field will be disappointed.
But the crowd will likely be smaller than the one at FOX’s “Big Noon Kickoff.” As the primary broadcast partner of the Big Ten, FOX has been decidedly pro-Michigan throughout this saga. Coincidentally, it has a great location for The Game -- just across the road from Michigan Stadium at Pioneer High School.
“Big Noon Kickoff” isn’t nearly as popular as “College GameDay,” but its in-person attendance should be larger Saturday for what I’m guessing will be the first time ever.
At 12:14 p.m., all attention will turn to the field for Michigan’s most crucial game of the season. But before then, the fan base will finally have a chance to make its feelings toward ESPN known.
And those feelings are strong.
