ESPN Cancels First Women's College GameDay Show Of Season
01/23/2025 11:58 AM
Inclement weather in Columbia, South Carolina is creating extremely hazardous conditions for the big women's college basketball game between SEC powers South Carolina and LSU.
Yesterday it was announced that the game would have to be rescheduled from Thursday to Friday as a result of the frigid conditions creating snow, ice and other issues across the Palmetto State.
But while the conditions may be good enough for the two basketball teams to face off at the Colonial Life Arena, they aren't sufficient for ESPN to put on a show.
On Wednesday, ESPN PR announced that the first College GameDay for women's basketball this year had to be outright canceled. The network found that the postponement of the game and other factors forced their hand.
"Due to inclement weather postponing the day and time between LSU and South Carolina, the first women's College GameDay show of the season - planned for Thursday, Jan. 23 in Columbia, S.C., will be canceled. Future show information will be announced in the coming weeks."
Programming Update: The women's @CollegeGameDay show originally slated for Thursday, Jan. 23 has been canceled due to the postponement of No. 5 @LSUwbkb at No. 2 @GamecockWBB
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) January 22, 2025
Info on future shows will be announced in the coming weeks pic.twitter.com/KZVL2PqgDP
College sports fans were gutted that the show had to be canceled over this. With the aid of College GameDay, the game might have been in a position to capitalize in a big way in terms of ratings.
As it stands, the December meeting between UConn and Notre Dame has been the most-watched women's basketball game of the season. A game between two top-five teams in the SEC with massive fanbases of their own could put that game to shame.
South Carolina are the reigning national champions but saw their winning streak snapped at the hands of UCLA earlier this season. Since then, they've been on a tear, climbing back up to No. 2 in the nation.
LSU have yet to taste defeat this year as Kim Mulkey's girls are a perfect 20-0 this season. However, they have not even faced, much less beat, a top 15 team yet and Dawn Staley's Gamecocks represent the biggest challenge they've faced since last year's NCAA Tournament.
The game will be played tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET and will air on ESPN.
Hopefully College GameDay gives women's basketball another try sometime this season.
Related: Dawn Staley Had Perfect Reaction To Being Booed During LSU-South Carolina Game
