ESPN College Gameday 2022: TV Schedule, Predictions and Location for Week 12
ESPN's College GameDay will make its first-ever trip to the state of Montana this Saturday to showcase the 121st annual Brawl of the Wild rivalry game between the University of Montana and Montana State University.
Although currently unranked, the Bobcats have an impressive 9-1 record on the year and have earned the right to play host to their fiercest antagonist in the Big Sky Conference, the Grizzlies, on their home turf in Bozeman.
Montana isn't having as strong a year as Montana State thanks to the loss of their starting quarterback, but at 7-3, they've managed to bounce back from three straight losses with back-to-back wins.
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As per usual, host Rece Davis will be on the GameDay set with co-hosts Desmond Howard, David Pollack, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit.
They'll be joined by the yet-to-be-named guest picker at Dyche Field. The show will air at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN and ESPNU.
Week 12's slate of games will also include No. 10 Utah at No. 12 Oregon, No. 7 Southern California will face off against No. 16 UCLA, No. 4 TCU takes on Baylor and No. 1 Georgia will hit the road to Kentucky.
Here's the full schedule of games for the Top 25 teams for Week 12, along with predictions for each game and a closer look at the big game in Big Sky country.
Week 12 Top 25 Schedule, Predictions
Saturday, Nov. 19 (all times ET)
No. 1 Georgia at Kentucky, 3:30 p.m., CBS
No. 2 Ohio State at Maryland, 3:30 p.m., ABC
No. 3 Michigan vs. Illinois, noon, ABC
No. 4 TCU at Baylor, noon, FOX
No. 5 Tennessee at South Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN
No. 6 LSU vs. UAB, 9 p.m., ESPN2
No. 7 Southern California vs. No. 16 UCLA, 8 p.m., FOX
No. 8 Alabama vs. Austin Peay, noon, SEC Network
No. 9 Clemson vs. Miami (FL), 3:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 10 Utah at No. 12 Oregon, 10:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 11 Penn State at Rutgers, 3:30 p.m., Big Ten Network
No. 13 North Carolina vs. Georgia Tech, 5:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 14 Ole Miss at Arkansas, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network
No. 15 Kansas State at West Virginia, 2 p.m., Big 12 Network/ESPN+
No. 17 Washington vs. Colorado, 9 p.m., Pac-12 Network
No. 18 Notre Dame vs. Boston College, 2:30 p.m., NBC/Peacock
No. 19 Florida State vs. Louisiana, noon, ESPN3
No. 20 UCF vs. Navy, 11 a.m., ESPN2
No. 22 Oklahoma State at Oklahoma, 7:30 p.m., ABC
No. 23 Oregon State at Arizona State, 2:15 p.m., ESPN2
No. 24 NC State at Louisville, 3:30 p.m., ACC Network
No. 25 Cincinnati at Temple, 4 p.m., ESPNU
*Picks in bold.
Montana vs. Montana State Preview
In college football, the term rivalry is used quite a bit, sometimes deserved, sometimes not so much.
But when it comes to the clash between Montana and Montana State, rivalry may not be a strong enough word.
Even archrival doesn't cut it.
That's why GameDay finally made its way to the Treasure State.
"When you can showcase something as important to the people of Montana as this rivalry is — and I've been instructed to call it Cat-Griz on social media, right? — we want to be able to share that with people because people like a good story," ESPN's Rece Davis told Greg Rachac of MontanaSports.com.
"They like drama. They like passion. They like excellence. And those are the things that this rivalry embodies."
The oddsmakers have the Bobcats winning, not just because the game is in Bozeman, but because they just came off an impressive 72-point shellacking of Cal Poly last week.
Add to that the fact that the Big Sky regular season championship is on the line for Montana State and there's plenty of motivation for them to topple their intense rival across the Continental Divide in Missoula.
To win, they'll need another signature performance from Sean Chambers and Tommy Mellott, the standout field generals in their two-quarterback system.
Chambers, who's been out the past four weeks due to injury, made his mark this season with a breakout performance in Week 5 against UC, when he threw for 227 yards and ran for 203. He's currently ranked second in the Big Sky conference with 16 rushing touchdowns.
As for Mellott, better known as "Touchdown Tommy," he's been having a stellar year of his own.
In the 43-38 win over Weber State in Week 8, Mellott had a career-high 273 rushing yards.
Thus far, the dual-threat QB has thrown for 1,206 yards and nine touchdowns and rushed for 705 yards and seven touchdowns.
If Chambers can make a mark on Saturday and Mellott can make a big contribution, too, the Bobcats' offense will be hard to stop.
Montana's Lucas Johnson will also be taking the field after battling back from injury.
The senior quarterback formerly of Georgia Tech has had a stellar year for the Grizzlies, throwing for 1,702 yards and 18 touchdowns, while rushing for seven TDs and 259 yards.
Johnson's play will determine if Montana's offense is effective or struggles, but their defense will definitely come out to play.
They'll likely dole out some big hits, rack up tackles for loss and maybe even get a sack or two.
But this matchup will likely come down to the play of the signal callers.
And from the looks of it, Montana State has the advantage under center.
No matter who wins, though, this should be quite the game for fans who've never seen these two teams on the national stage.
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