College GameDay picks Indiana vs. Minnesota, and fans are blaming Pat McAfee

ESPN's College GameDay will broadcast from Bloomington on Saturday ahead of No. 4 Indiana against Minnesota. Some fans saw the choice of a Big Ten game over the Florida-Georgia matchup as a favor to Pat McAfee. Pro Football Network collected the online reaction, and one fan's post supplied the headline: "This reeks of Pat McAfee choice." Others joked that the former Colts punter, an early national supporter of Curt Cignetti's program, wanted to be home in time for trick-or-treating.

Whoever made the call, the show is following the defending national champions again. This is GameDay's second full broadcast from the Indiana campus. The first came in 2024, when the Hoosiers beat Washington. In 2017 the show did a shorter Thursday edition there before the opener against Ohio State. It is also Indiana's fourth straight week with a national pregame show, following three weeks of FOX's Big Noon Kickoff. For Minnesota, Gophers Nation notes this is only the third time GameDay has featured one of its games, and the first since the Gophers hosted Michigan in 2020.

Both teams come in off tight wins. Indiana won 13-6 in overtime at Michigan when quarterback Josh Hoover ran in a 4-yard touchdown. It was the program's first win in Ann Arbor since 1967 and came a week after the 19-15 loss to Ohio State. Minnesota beat No. 15 Iowa 13-10 at home, forcing four turnovers before Luke Drzewiecki made a 46-yard field goal as time expired. The show airs from 9 a.m. to noon ET, and kickoff at Memorial Stadium is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

What it means for Saturday

Indiana is 7-1 and 4-1 in the Big Ten, but its recent wins have been close. The Hoosiers beat Northwestern by six, Nebraska by three and Michigan by seven in overtime. In their last three games they have scored 20, 15 and 13 points. Their only rout in that stretch was 47-15 at Rutgers. Their blowouts came early, against Western Kentucky, Howard and North Texas.

Minnesota is 5-2 and 3-1 in conference play, but its results swing widely. The Gophers have close wins over Iowa, Michigan and Washington, plus lopsided losses to Purdue (41-13) and Mississippi State (38-13). The defense held Iowa and Michigan to a combined 24 points. The offense has not topped 27 against a Power Four opponent.

The market expects Indiana to win comfortably. On this site's board, across 11 venues, Indiana is favored at -1011 on the moneyline at Novig. Minnesota is +852 there, and the best price anywhere is +1000 at theScore Bet. Novig has Indiana favored by 20.5 points at +102. The best Indiana number is -19.5 at -110 on BetMGM, so the venues differ by a point on the spread. The total sits at 41.5 at Novig, with the best over at Hard Rock Bet (-105) and BetMGM offering the under at 42.5. Sportsbook hold runs from 2.8% to 7.0% depending on the market.

A total in the low 40s fits how both teams have played lately. Indiana has needed late scores to win its recent close games, while Minnesota has stayed in games with defense and turnovers. A spread around three touchdowns asks Indiana to win by far more than it has in October.