College GameDay's Week 6 Location Signifying Gators' Poor Season

Florida's Week 6 matchup in the Swamp looked like one of the top games entering the season.

The Florida Gators have seen a season with high hopes quickly get out of hands. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

ESPN’s College Gameday announced it would be in Tuscaloosa for Week 6 for the SEC clash between Alabama and Vanderbilt, and while it might be the right choice, it also signifies the poor start for the Florida Gators. 

In the preseason, the Florida Gators' matchup against Texas seemed like it would be an early impact game for playoff implications for both teams. Now, with the Gators unranked with a 1-3 record, it's a game with little national impact at the moment.

It's also the latest game that looked like it would have playoff implications but no longer does.

WEEK 6: TUSCALOOSA 👏

We’re heading down to Alabama as the Crimson Tide take on the undefeated Vanderbilt Commodores 😤@AlabamaFTBL | @VandyFootball pic.twitter.com/ZrGqZhAR2D

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 28, 2025

There were several options to choose from on the Gators' 2025 schedule for College GameDay entering the campaign. In the front half of the schedule, it could have set up shop for the LSU, Miami, Texas and Texas A&M matchups. Instead, only the game against Miami will be chosen for the show. 

This is not due to the opponents on the schedule, either. 

Florida let down their entire fan base in Week 2 of the season against USF after falling to the Bulls 18-16 in the Swamp. Their offense failed to produce many points, struggling to accumulate enough effective drives to win the game. 

The Gators' failure in Week 2 led to them dropping in the rankings and College College GameDay opting for a different venue in Week 3 despite a night game in Death Valley against LSU. 

Week 4 did go to a Gator game, albeit an away game against Miami.

College GameDay could have gone to Oklahoma versus Auburn, Utah versus Texas Tech or Illinois versus Indiana. Instead, it chose Hard Rock Stadium down in Miami Gardens, Fla., for the in-state rivalry with the Hurricanes. 

Again, though, the Gators disappointed. They fell flat on their face against Miami, losing 26-7 to drop to 1-3 on the season. Unsurprisingly, it was the offense again that failed to do its job. The defense did everything it could to make it a game, but ran out of energy at the end. 

With everything that came to fruition in the first five weeks of the season, it was very unlikely that the College GameDay crew would show up in Gainesville when the Longhorns came to town. 

It also reinforces the thought that it won’t or should not be involved with any of the Gator games moving forward, despite there being several good options remaining. 

Following the game versus Texas, the Gators will travel to College Station to face the No. 8 Aggies. They will undoubtedly be the underdogs in this game, but it could have been a destination spot if they had not severely underperformed in the early going of the 2025 season. 

There are also contests with Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Florida State. Furthermore, two of those are in Gainesville. Florida can still turn the season around to force College Gameday to change its mind, but as of now, that is unlikely.