College football’s week 6 dropped so many shockers that even fans will need time and space to process them. First, Penn State lost against unranked UCLA, their first loss against a 0-4 team since 1985. Then no. 9 Texas Longhorns lost against the Florida Gators, an upset that many analysts could not see coming. But this loss has another impact. Instead of moving to Dallas for the Red River rivalry, ESPN GameDay will now go straight to Eugene for Oregon’s showdown against Indiana.

After the shocking upset, Texas stands at a 3-2 record and is out of the top 10 rankings. Now the upcoming game is no longer between two SEC heavyweights. The hottest matchup is now in Oregon. College GameDay took this major step, confirming on X: “Next stop: Eugene, Oregon 🦆 See you soon for a top 10 matchup between the Hoosiers and the Ducks 🍿.” Even if this is seen as a major setback for Texas, Oregon and Indiana deserve this chance.

The Ducks are coming off a massive win against Penn State. Indiana also won against a top ten team, Illinois, last month. Both teams are also undefeated and at the top of the Big Ten. Texas has lost a major opportunity to host the GameDay crew at their rivalry game, where they lead the all-time series with a 64–51–5 record.

But here’s the real question. What exactly went wrong in the game for the Longhorns? Texas was the no. 1 team in the preseason for the first time in the program’s history and has now somehow ended up in this position. Against Florida, they played one of their worst games, as they didn’t record a single sack and ended up giving 159 rushing yards. In contrast, Florida sacked Arch Manning six times. They even held the Longhorns to just 52 yards of total rushing.

Against Texas’s strong defense, DJ Lagway put together the best game of the season, going in for 21 of 28 passes for 298 yards with two touchdowns. This is the highest number of yards against a Power Four team in his career. Even their WR Dallas Wilson recorded 6 catches for 111 yards with two TDs. Meanwhile, Manning looked inconsistent with his performance. Even after throwing for 263 yards and two touchdowns, he ended up throwing 2 costly interceptions in the fourth quarter.

Fans begin to speculate on reasons behind ESPN’s move to Eugene

Losing against Billy Napier and the Gators was the last thing anyone expected from Texas. Even fans know it, as this one pointed out: “Damn, Texas’s loss prevented a Red River GameDay.” The fans are convinced had Texas won, the GameDay would have gone to Dallas.

Florida finally showed up against Texas after weeks of struggle, and now “fire Billy Napier” chants will not come in for a while. But Texas’s weak offense and inconsistent running game made it tough for them to outlast that Gator defense. This loss has made their playoff run much more difficult. It also has affected how media channel will view their games. As this fan states it out perfectly: “Saw Texas get stomped and made the right decision.”

It’s pretty clear that the Red River Rivalry grabs a lot of eyes. Back in 2023, it recorded 7.8 million viewers, the most since 2009. It’s pretty clear that missing out on a game like this is surely a major step. For ESPN, who constantly covers big games, to choose Oregon vs. Indiana shows Dan Lanning and Curt Cignetti’s dominance over college football in 2025. Even fans are happy with this new change: “Finally no SEC bias this time.”

ESPN has been alleged to have an SEC bias. “Look at ESPN putting their bias aside for once 🤷.” At last this fan’s “Texas had one job…” comment sums it all up well. Last year’s playoff darling team turned pale against the Gators, who were 1-3 in the league. Let’s hope Texas bounces back fast because they can’t afford any more losses.