College football is officially back, and fans are excited about the first full Saturday slate of the 2026 season.
That means “College GameDay” is back as well, but the college football world had mixed reactions to ESPN’s crew of Pat McAfee, Nick Saban, and Co. earlier this afternoon.
CFB Fans Not Liking Pat McAfee or Nick Saban’s Changed Stance on ‘College GameDay’
From Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit bringing their usual insightful takes on the biggest games of the day, to the more outspoken personalities like McAfee and Saban, there was plenty for fans to talk about.
While some fans enjoy what McAfee and Saban bring to the show, others aren’t exactly thrilled with either one of them, although for very different reasons.
“Hey CollegeGameDay can you tell Pat McAfee to watch his mouth? I could watch College Gameday with my kids until he came on. We just turned it off because he can’t control his tongue…” one fan said.
Hey @CollegeGameDay can you tell Pat McAfee to watch his mouth? I could watch College Gameday with my kids until he came on. We just turned it off because he can’t control his tongue…@espn @ESPNCFB @Disney
— Christian Edwards (@christian14_6) September 5, 2026
Others echoed this sentiment.
“I’m no prude but GameDay has become something I don’t even feel comfortable watching with my kids,” one fan added. “Trash show. Sad tradition they’ve messed up.”
McAfee is a guy who always says what’s on his mind, and people tend to have strong feelings about him one way or the other. It’s the classic: people either love him or can’t stand him.
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To these fans’ point, McAfee uses strong language on a network that is supposed to be family-friendly, which rubs some people the wrong way.
McAfee isn’t one to bite his tongue, and this outspoken nature has contributed to his massive popularity while also making him quite polarizing.
Some viewers were annoyed about Lane Kiffin’s appearance on “College GameDay.” McAfee and Kiffin are friends (as the LSU head coach discussed during the interview), and Kiffin previously coached under Saban at Alabama, so it’s not a huge surprise that the crew was “pro Lane Kiffin” as one viewer described it.
I don’t mind that College Gameday is pro Lane Kiffin across the desk, but it is an objectively poor representation of how he’s felt about by college football fans. Gotta be an alienating experience for those viewers when Pat McAfee and Nick Saban shower Lane with adoration.
— Ralph Amsden (@ralphamsden) September 5, 2026
“I don’t mind that College Gameday is pro Lane Kiffin across the desk, but it is an objectively poor representation of how he’s felt about by college football fans. Gotta be an alienating experience for those viewers when Pat McAfee and Nick Saban shower Lane with adoration,” another fan added.
Some fans were just fed up with the show in general.
College GameDay has become unwatchable.
— Nicholas J. Stelzner (@stelzner_n1150) September 5, 2026
“College GameDay has become unwatchable,” one fan wrote.
“ESPN used to be SO good, would barely change the channel. Things changed and College GameDay became the only show I’d watch. Now, even GameDay is bad. Some of these supporting folks are TERRIBLE,” another added.
Next week, “College GameDay” will be live from Austin, Texas, ahead of the highly anticipated Ohio State-Texas clash.
