ESPN letdown: College Game Day opts for Big 10 over Big Sky

After two weeks of vociferous push from Montana football fans, ESPN's College GameDay has opted to head in another direction.

The popular college football program from ESPN announced on Saturday evening that they will be traveling to Columbus, Ohio, for Michigan State and Ohio State on Saturday, Nov. 20 instead of traveling to Missoula for the 120th Brawl of the Wild between No. 9 Montana and No. 3 Montana State.

The decision to go to Columbus was announced during ESPN's broadcast of Texas A&M and Ole Miss on Saturday evening.

The University of Montana put together pitch and has relied heavily on social media over the last two weeks in hopes of swaying College GameDay to make its inaugural appearance in Montana next weekend. The Grizzlies (8-2) and Bobcats (9-1) are set for a heavyweight top-10 FCS clash in Missoula at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

With a lot of push from football fans across the state as well as a number of high-profile celebrities with ties to the Treasure State voicing their support, GameDay coming to Missoula seemed like a strong possibility especially after Michigan State lost to Purdue last weekend.

The Grizzlies won their fourth straight game with a 30-3 victory over Northern Arizona on Saturday while Montana State won its ninth straight game with a 20-13 win over Idaho.

Kickoff for next Saturday's Brawl of the Wild is scheduled for noon.