Why ESPN College GameDay made a mistake heading to Indiana for Week 9

It's easy to be impressed by what first-year coach Curt Cignetti has done with the Indiana Hoosiers.

The Hoosiers are one of the top teams in the Big Ten and, with a perfect 7-0 record, they are firmly in the mix for the College Football Playoff. There's no doubt that the Hoosiers crowd will provide a raucous environment as ESPN College GameDay makes it way to Bloomington, Indiana for the first time in the show's history.

However, that still doesn't mean that ESPN College GameDay made the right decision.

Sure, Indiana is a legitimate College Football Playoff contender. But, this ultimately hasn't nothing to do with Indiana. The game will take place on the Big Ten Network, which isn't even one of ESPN's properties. In addition, it will feature the Washington Huskies, who already have three losses heading into this one.

It really doesn't make sense, especially when you look at the matchup that could've been chosen.

ESPN College GameDay has already made the trip to College Station once, so it's easy to see why the show might not want to come back for the LSU game this weekend. It's also easy to see why they wouldn't want to feature Texas for a second-straight week with a trip to Vanderbilt, or to feature Oregon at Illinois just two weeks after they hyped up Eugene for the matchup against Ohio State.

But, it's a bit of a head-scratcher to me why #12 Notre Dame at #24 Navy, a game that is taking place at noon on ABC, wasn't the obvious choice.

Yes, I understand that GameDay will be in town for the Army-Navy matchup when the two teams battle in Washington, DC on December 14. But, this would've been a perfect opportunity to hype up a key network matchup all the while giving some love to Navy, who has a legitimate shot at a College Football Playoff berth this season if they picked up a win over Notre Dame on Saturday.

Now, you might say: The game isn't going to be on Navy's campus. That's the reason that ESPN isn't going there. Sure, the game is taking place at MetLife Stadium and the show typically likes to pick locations where it can be on campus. But, you can't tell me the atmosphere still wouldn't be electric to see a large contingent of Navy students in attendance against Notre Dame for the preview show.

Yes, I get ESPN featured Notre Dame earlier this season, too. But, this is the first time this rivalry game between the Fighting Irish and Midshipmen has ever had legitimate postseason implications like this one will.

Navy and Army being ranked inside the top-25 at the same time is one of the biggest storylines of the season, and one that fans have been continuing to follow. There's no guarantee that this will be the case by the middle of December when they play one another.

This would've been an opportunity for ESPN to feature a game that has legitimate postseason implications while showing some love to the United States Naval Academy.

I'm sure that Indiana will be a great environment for its first-ever ESPN College GameDay, but you can't tell me ratings wouldn't have been through the roof if the game of the week was Navy vs. Notre Dame.

Regardless, we'll continue to enjoy college football and won't complain one bit about seeing the spectacle that unfolds in Bloomington, Indiana next weekend.