ESPN College GameDay Headed to Mississippi State vs. Alabama for Week 12

After a two-week hiatus in the Big 12 and the Big Ten, ESPN's College GameDay will return to the SEC for the fifth time this season next week when Alabama hosts Mississippi State in Tuscaloosa.

The show's official Twitter account announced the news:

Mississippi State is one of two undefeated teams left in the country and sits atop the College Football Playoff standings. Alabama is 8-1 with a road loss to the Bulldogs' in-state rival, Ole Miss, and ranked No. 5.

After Auburn lost to Texas A&M Saturday, however, the Crimson Tide have a chance to move into the top four. Doing so would require holding off TCU, which looked much more convincing beating Kansas State 41-20 than Alabama did beating LSU 20-13 in overtime, but it's possible.

And if it happened, this game would be a "hypothetical playoff preview" between the No. 1 and No. 4 teams in the country.

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Alabama has lost the last two times it appeared on GameDay, most recently against Ole Miss along with last year's Iron Bowl against Auburn. Before that, though, Nick Saban's team had won eight consecutive GameDay games between January of 2012 and November of 2013.

To wit, Alabama played eight GameDay games between January of 2012 and November of 2013. When Mississippi State beat Auburn in front of Lee, Chris, Herbie and the crew this season, it marked the first time in program history the Bulldogs had ever been featured on the show.

Head coach Dan Mullen, quarterback Dak Prescott, running back Josh Robinson and a deep and talented defense have Mississippi State enjoying the finest season in program history, a year that has vaulted them from underdogs to favorites in the SEC West.

This isn't an "elimination game," because the Bulldogs are undefeated, but it's a game whose outcome might decide the fate of the division, the conference and by extension the national championship.

"It's going to be a fun game, it's going to be a challenging game," Prescott said Saturday. "But we're excited for that."

Yeah, Dak. So are we.