Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Entertainment
Dan Lyons

Sports World Can’t Hide Its Contempt for New ‘College GameDay’ Theme Song

For 16 years, country duo Big & Rich’s hit “Comin’ to Your City” served as the theme for ESPN’s popular Saturday morning college football pregame show College GameDay. On Saturday, the network premiered a new version of the theme song, to very mixed reviews.

Darius Rucker, Lainey Wilson and The Cadillac Three recorded a new version of the song which was played at today’s show in Charlotte, ahead of a big nonconference rivalry clash between North Carolina and Rucker’s beloved South Carolina.

Of course, change is uncomfortable for many. Although a change in the performers of the GameDay theme doesn’t quite stack up to, say, USC bolting for the Big Ten or Stanford defecting to the ACC, many fans did not like the new theme, even with a bona fide college football fanatic such as Rucker involved.

Here is a sample of some of the rough reactions online:

Of course, not everyone believes the change is a big deal.

After a few weeks, fans may get used to the new version—or ESPN may have to see if Big & Rich are interested in coming out of retirement next fall.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.