Thursday’s edition of College GameDay was poised to be the biggest showcase for women’s college basketball this season, highlighting the anticipated SEC matchup between the LSU Tigers and the South Carolina Gamecocks. However, a rare southern snowstorm disrupted these plans, resulting in the game being rescheduled to Friday at 5 PM, as announced directly by South Carolina’s women’s basketball account on X.
𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘
Friday is the new Thursday, FAMShttps://t.co/7p7k59alFV pic.twitter.com/jqglW1iyhN— South Carolina Women’s Basketball (@GamecockWBB) January 22, 2025
In light of the game’s postponement, ESPN announced the cancellation of College GameDay rather than shifting the show to match the new schedule.
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. Info on future shows will be announced in the coming weeks pic.twitter.com/KZVL2PqgDP
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) January 22, 2025
Over the past few years, it has become evident that women’s college basketball can flourish as a ratings powerhouse when given the spotlight. As for the next potential women’s College GameDay, ESPN has only stated that “info on future shows will be announced in the coming weeks.”
This season’s most-watched women’s college basketball game on ESPN networks was the Notre Dame-UConn matchup on December 12th, which averaged 847,000 viewers. With that in mind, Friday’s South Carolina-LSU matchup holds promise to surpass that viewership; however, the absence of College GameDay could have impacted its potential even further.
Nevertheless, Friday’s contest looks to be an exciting clash with LSU arriving unbeaten at 20-0, while South Carolina has just one loss at 18-1.
