Does ESPN know who the Gamecocks are? Latest Outback Bowl mistake begs the question
First they get the logo wrong, then they show highlights of the wrong team.
Seriously, why does ESPN keep mistaking the South Carolina Gamecocks for other college football teams?
The first error occurred during an ESPN bowl preview show at the beginning of the month. As the panel discussed the Outback Bowl matchup between the Gamecocks and Michigan Wolverines, it displayed a graphic with South Carolina State’s logo.
That was a bad mistake, but what ESPN did Sunday is really a head scratcher.
On another ESPN bowl preview segment, their staff experts again previewed the Outback Bowl. This time the graphic was accurate, but the highlights and analysis were way off.
Again, the ESPN panelists correctly identified Michigan, but when they started to point out the issues the Wolverines defense could have in the bowl game, they showed footage of … Mississippi State.
As if that weren’t bad enough, the analysts discussed how Michigan will have a tough time against the Bulldogs, especially running back Aeris Williams.
The clip was posted on Twitter, to capture the breakdown between the Wolverines and Mississippi State.
ESPN just had a breakdown of Mississippi State playing in the Outback Bowl against Michigan. One problem? South Carolina is in it. https://t.co/9ZSNQ0jPQi
— Joe Wright (@Sctvman) December 11, 2017
“Aeris Williams, I think he’s the real deal. He’s tough, he’s big, he’s physical. … He is a guy, if they let him get going, he can give that Michigan team problems,” the analyst said.
It would be bad enough to confuse Mississippi State with Ole Miss, something that happens frequently. But South Carolina? The Gamecocks aren’t even in the same SEC division as the Bulldogs.
Maybe ESPN thought it was the wrong Bulldogs they had the first time with the mistaken graphic, and they swapped S.C. State for Mississippi State?
The graphic with S.C. State’s logo got a lot of things wrong, not just which Palmetto State team was playing in the Outback Bowl.
It also had the wrong date and kickoff time. It listed Dec. 29 when it should be Jan. 1, and 8:30 p.m. when the Outback Bowl is scheduled to start at noon.
— Justin King (@JustinKing) December 3, 2017
A message was left with ESPN inquiring about the mistakes.
Staff reductions could be behind the mistakes. As part of a company-wide cost-cutting effort, ESPN laid off about 150 employees in November after eliminating 100 employees earlier in the year.
This story was originally published December 12, 2017 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Does ESPN know who the Gamecocks are? Latest Outback Bowl mistake begs the question."