(Photo by Scott Clarke / ESPN Images)
College GameDay Built by The Home Depot is making another first-time visit, as the traveling pregame show heads to Memphis. The three-hour show (9 a.m. – noon ET), will be live from Beale Street in downtown Memphis, ahead of an ABC Saturday Night Football matchup between No. 15 SMU and No. 24 Memphis.
The 11-time Emmy Award-winning show is hosted by Rece Davis, and joined by analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack, as well as contributors Chris ‘The Bear’ Fallica, Jen Lada, Tom Rinaldi, Maria Taylor and Gene Wojciechowski. After serving as the guest picker at South Dakota State, Pat McAfee will join the crew in Memphis for Saturday’s show.
College GameDay will air on ESPN and ESPNU as it does each Saturday throughout the season. Countdown to GameDay Live sponsored by Coca-Cola and Samsung QLED, will also be live on-site on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and the ESPN App, featuring Jason Fitz, Pollack, McAfee, and a number of college football analysts and reporters.
The show precedes a full slate of action across ESPN networks, beginning at noon ET. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Maria Taylor will be on the call for No. 15 SMU at No. 24 Memphis, with coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.
Show Highlights
- We Want to Pump You Up – Strength coaches are the worker bees of every college football program. They build more than muscles; they build character, which makes sense – since most of them are characters themselves. Reporter: Gene Wojciechowski
- Significant Signatures – Herschel Walker and Danny Wuerffel are legends in the Florida-Georgia rivalry. A signed football with both Heisman winners once went for $10,000 in a charity auction. However, that pales in comparison to the “Donaldsonville Ball” – and its significant signatures that inspire Wuerffel and others to continue to give back. Reporter: Jen Lada
- I Got You Bro – Those were the first words Memphis running back Kenny Gainwell said to his big brother Curtis Jr., in an intensive care unit after brain surgery, after Curtis suffered an improbable stroke while lifting weights. This season at Memphis, Kenny has emerged as a huge playmaker—and a big part of his motivation has been his brother, in every yard he’s gained. Reporter: Tom Rinaldi
- Live with the Buckeyes: Ohio State head coach Ryan Day will be interviewed live on the show (via satellite)
Corso Facts
- Whichever headgear Corso puts on, it will be the 60th different mascot headgear he has worn at the end of the show.
- Corso has won each of his last six headgear picks – his longest headgear win streak since an 8-game streak in 2013
Stats from ‘The Bear’
- This is road show no. 376 and will be Lee Corso’s 341st headgear pick
- Memphis is the 74th different school to host GameDay; Memphis is the 88th different city from which the show has originated.
- SMU coach Sonny Dykes has been a part of one GameDay show previously – a 30-24 loss at Utah when he was the Cal head coach in 2015; second GameDay show SMU has been a part of
- This is GameDay’s seventh trip to a site featuring a home team ranked 20 – 25 versus a team ranked outside the Top 10. Home teams are 2-4 in the previous six, with Washington State winning in this spot last year
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