Photos from past GameDay trips to Georgia (via ESPN Images)
- College football’s premier pregame show to preview the game of the week on ABC Saturday Night Football Presented by Capital One (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
- Special on-site guests: Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, SEC Nation analyst Tim Tebow join GameDay, with guest picker WWE champion Cody Rhodes
- Fans arriving early will have the chance to enter to be picked for Pat McAfee’s kicking contest for the opportunity to win $150,000 of Pat’s money
ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot travels to Athens, Ga., for an SEC showdown with conference championship and CFP implications as No. 7 Tennessee and No. 12 Georgia face off for the show’s 10th visit all time between the hedges. College GameDay will be live from the Myers Quad on Georgia’s campus from 9 a.m. – noon ET on ESPN & ESPNU.
Host Rece Davis is at the helm for his 10th season, joined at the desk by GameDay analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban. College football insider Pete Thamel, college football betting analyst ‘Stanford Steve’ Coughlin and reporters Jen Lada and Jess Sims round out the GameDay cast.
Following the pregame show, the lead game team of Chris Fowler, Herbstreit and Holly Rowe alongside Laura Rutledge will be on the call in Athens for ABC Saturday Night Football Presented by Capital One (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
College GameDay is off to its best start ever, averaging 2.1 million viewers per episode and up 6% over 2023. The Week 11 show at LSU averaged 2.1 million viewers with 2.6 million viewers in the final hour.
Show Highlights & Guests
- Coaches on GameDay – Georgia head coach Kirby Smart will join GameDay live at the desk on Saturday. The show will feature all access with Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman who was wired for sound during practice ahead of the Fighting Irish’s showdown against Virginia.
- Coach’s Film Room – Saban takes viewers inside his film room to analyze SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings before the 14th-ranked Mustangs host Boston College.
- Special Guests – SEC Nation analyst and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow joins the show live on set to discuss the crowded race for the SEC Championship. Oregon QB and Heisman hopeful Dillon Gabriel joins GameDay from Madison, Wis., as the top-ranked Ducks put their perfect season on the line against Wisconsin.
- Celebrity Guest Picker – Cody Rhodes, WWE Superstar and Georgia Bulldogs fan, joins GameDay in Athens as the Week 12 guest picker. Rhodes is a Georgia native and the current Undisputed WWE Champion, as well as the inaugural WWE Crown Jewel Champion, and will be making his first appearance on the pregame show this week.
- Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest – Back for its second season, GameDay will offer the fan-favorite exclusive contest during the live show, Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest. Fans who arrive early will have a chance to be chosen from the ‘pit’ onsite with the opportunity to attempt a 33-yard field goal. If the contestant successfully completes the kick, he/she will be awarded $150,000 from McAfee. So far this season, fans have earned $250,000 of McAfee’s money. Full details, including official rules, can be found here.
Additional guests will be announced ahead of Saturday’s show on ESPN PR’s Twitter and College GameDay’s Twitter.
For onsite information, please visit College GameDay’s Hub HERE.
Corso’s Count
- Coach Corso will be making his 423rd mascot headgear selection this week. So far this season his picks have gone 7-2, with his only losses coming at Texas (Week 8) and LSU (Week 11).
- This will be Georgia’s 10th time hosting GameDay and 38th appearance all time, with the Bulldogs going 7-2 when hosting the pregame show. Corso has gone 8-5 in the 13 times he’s picked the Bulldogs’ headgear and has chosen Georgia six times when the show was in Athens (5-1).
- Tennessee will make its 26th appearance on GameDay with Corso choosing the Vols headgear eight times with a 6-2 record.
Features:
- Darth Stater – When lifelong Iowa State fan Troy DeJoode decided on a whim to bring his Darth Vader costume to a Cyclones game this season, he never could have imagined the impact it would have on him and so many others. When his story began to go viral, Troy shared the powerful meaning behind the mask. Jen Lada reports.
- The Spirit of Simphiwe – Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson currently leads the SEC in both rushing yards and touchdowns. This summer, Sampson took a trip with the Tennessee VOLeaders program to South Africa, where he befriended 13-year-old Simphiwe Ditshaba, a triple-amputee with an indomitable spirit who taught Sampson the true meaning of perspective and perseverance. Marty Smith reports.
- The Game with No Name – Other rivalries may have better nicknames but the rivalry between Georgia and Tennessee has plenty of history and plenty of hate. From Herschel to hob-nail boots to Heath Shuler, the game with no name has delivered time and time again. Ryan McGee reports.
ESPN’s Expansive Digital Coverage
ESPN’s social and digital pre-pregame show, Countdown to GameDay Presented by Dr Pepper, is live from Athens with hosts Christine Williamson, Harry Douglas and Harry Lyles Jr., for the Week 12 show. The show is available across ESPN on YouTube, Facebook and the ESPN App at 8:20 a.m. ET weekly.
SEC Network Joins College GameDay in Athens
In addition to GameDay, SEC Network’s SEC Nation Presented by T-Mobile 5G Home Internet, Marty & McGee Presented by Old Trapper and The Paul Finebaum Show Presented by Johnsonville will also originate from Athens for Week 12 coverage. This will be just the seventh time that GameDay and SEC Nation are visiting the same game site in the regular season, following Florida vs. Georgia (2018), LSU at Alabama (2019), Kentucky at Georgia (2021), Alabama at Tennessee (2022), Tennessee at Georgia (2022) and Texas at Alabama (2023). SEC Network shows will originate from the Special Collections Library. Full coverage details are available here.
ESPN Radio’s season-long CFB Tailgate Tour will also be in Athens this weekend. Jonathan Zaslow and Rashad Jennings will host Saturday’s show (10 a.m. – 1 p.m.) from 585 S. Harris Street in Athens.
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Media Contact:
Julie McKay, ESPN Communications – Julie.McKay@espn.com, @McKay_Julie
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