College Gameday destination announced for college football Week 1

Every single day brings us closer to the 2023 season and on Monday, College Gameday announced where it will spend College Football Week 1.

The first week of the college football season is always one of the most difficult in terms of College Gameday selecting a host site.

There are some quality matchups in College Football Week 1 but they aren’t always on a particular campus. Sometimes those games aren’t even on a Saturday.

That could have played a role in the selection of the first site by ESPN’s College Gameday for Week 1 of the 2023 college football season.

Either way, the official Twitter account for College Gameday announced that it would be headed to Charlotte for the season opener between North Carolina and South Carolina.

It’s a solid selection and one of the top games for College Football Week 1. But I have a hard time seeing how that game is more important than the tilt in Orlando between Florida State and LSU.

Both teams are going to be ranked in the top 10 most likely and even if you forgot the preseason polls, LSU and Florida State are each expected to compete for conference and national titles.

South Carolina and North Carolina are both solid programs. They each had solid 2022 seasons too. But neither is expected to be a national title contender and both are dark-horse candidates at best in their own leagues.

Plus, the rivalry between South Carolina and North Carolina isn’t that notable. The quarterback matchup is enticing as Spencer Rattler of the Gamecocks and Drake Maye of North Carolina are two of the best in all of college football.

But Florida State-LSU is still a better matchup. However, it’s also being played on a Sunday night in College Football Week 1 as opposed to Saturday. That’s probably the main difference — plus there will be plenty of studio coverage.

South Carolina-North Carolina makes sense for College Gameday but the best matchup for College Football Week 1 is still LSU and Florida State.