- College football’s premier pregame show heads to South Bend, Ind., for Friday’s show (3:30 p.m. ET) and Columbus, Ohio, for Saturday’s show (9 a.m. ET)
- Head coaches Curt Cignetti (Indiana), Kirby Smart (Georgia), Dabo Swinney (Clemson), Steve Sarkisian (Texas) join across the two days, along with players, special guests and more
- Fans arriving early at each site will have a chance to enter to be picked for Pat McAfee’s kicking contest for the opportunity to win $250,000 of Pat’s money
ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot kicks off the expanded College Football Playoff with two live shows from First Round game sites this week. The show will be live from South Bend, Ind., at Library Lawn from 3:30 – 8 p.m. ET, before Notre Dame hosts in-state foe Indiana. The crew will make a quick turnaround for a three-hour show (9 a.m. – noon) on Saturday, Dec. 21, in Columbus, Ohio, ahead of the Buckeyes’ tussle with Tennessee.
Host Rece Davis, at the helm for his 10th season, is joined at the desk by GameDay analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban. Beloved analyst Lee Corso returns to the desk for Saturday’s show. College football insider Pete Thamel, college football betting analyst ‘Stanford Steve’ Coughlin and reporter Jen Lada round out the GameDay cast.
Following each of the pregame shows, ESPN will present nearly a dozen total offerings during the two First Round primetime games of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff on Friday, Dec. 20 (No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame) and Saturday, Dec. 21 (No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State), as well as Mercedes-Benz Halftime Report with the GameDay crew.
Herbstreit joins Chris Fowler, Holly Rowe and Marty Smith for Saturday’s main presentation of the Vols/Buckeyes battle on ESPN and ABC. The fan favorite MegaCast offering Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show is set for ESPN2, as McAfee will anchor coverage and call the action while roaming the sidelines of Ohio Stadium.
College GameDay finished the regular season as the most-viewed in its 38-year history. During the record-breaking 2024 season, GameDay averaged 2.2 million viewers for its best season ever – a 6% increase from 2023 and 5% over the prior season high.
Friday in South Bend
On Friday, Notre Dame will host College GameDay for the 12th time with the most recent show during 2023’s Week 4. Overall, the Fighting Irish will make their 38th appearance with a 17-20 record over their previous 37 appearances on the show.
In the first ever College Football Playoff matchup between in-state opponents, Indiana will make its fourth appearance on College GameDay and third this season. The Hoosiers hosted Washington in Week 9 and suffered their only loss of the season on the road against Ohio State in Week 13.
- Coaches & Players on GameDay – Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti will join the GameDay desk ahead of the initial First Round game of the expanded CFP while Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love will join live from the field during pregame warmups. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart joins the show for a live remote interview as he waits to see who his Bulldogs will face following the Indiana-Notre Dame duel. Dabo Swinney, Clemson’s head coach, joins the show from Austin ahead of his team’s game against Texas on Saturday. Newly-named head coach at North Carolina, Bill Belichick, will also join GameDay during Friday’s show.
- Game Preview – ESPN commentators Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy will join the show live from the booth ahead of their call of in-state showdown between the Hoosiers and Fighting Irish.
- Special Guests – Oz the Mentalist performs live in South Bend to read the minds of the College GameDay on-air personalities. Comedian and actor Shane Gillis will join the GameDay desk as the First Round show’s celebrity guest picker.
After Friday’s First Round game, the crew hits the road to Columbus, Ohio, for their second show of the week ahead of the Tennessee/Ohio State showdown. The game marks the second meeting in series history, and the first time the Vols and Buckeyes have squared off since the 1996 Citrus Bowl. The Buckeyes will extend their own record by hosting College GameDay for the 25th time (18-6 record over previous 24 shows). Meanwhile, the Vols will make their 27th appearance on the program, and third this season.
- Coaches & Players on GameDay – The show will provide a look into the noon First Round game with Penn State linebacker Dominic DeLuca joining the show live from pregame warmups at Beaver Stadium while SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings will do the same from the other end of the field ahead of their matchup (TNT/TBS/TruTV/Max/ESPN Radio). Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian will join the show live from Austin, ahead of the No. 5 Longhorns clash with No. 12 Clemson (4 p.m. ET, TNT/TBS/TruTV/Max/ESPN Radio).
- Guest Picker – Buckeyes great J. Hawk of The Pat McAfee Showmakes a return to the GameDay desk as celebrity guest picker for the First Round show in Columbus. The former OSU linebacker and National Champion, as well as NFL Super Bowl champion, served as guest picker during a 2022 visit to Ohio State.
Additional guests will be announced ahead of the shows on ESPN PR’s Twitter and College GameDay’s Twitter.
Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest
This week, the fan-favorite exclusive segment of Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest will take place on Friday and Saturday. 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, they will be awarded $250,000 from McAfee. Full details, including official rules, can be found here.
The show and offerings are free for fans and early arrival is encouraged for these exclusive offers.
For onsite information, please visit College GameDay’s Hub HERE.
Corso’s Count
- Coach Corso will be back at the GameDay desk on Saturday making his 426th mascot headgear pick after finishing the regular season with a 9-3 record.
- Ohio State has been picked by Corso 43 times – most of any school ever, with a 29-14 record.
- Corso has picked Tennessee eight times previously with a 6-2 record.
Friday Features
- 4 the Family – Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher tragically lost a father and a stepfather within five years of each other. Now, he plays for the four family members who have persevered with him through their adversity. Jen Lada reports.
- Ryan Day Conversation – The Ohio State head coach sits down to discuss what the last three weeks have been like for him and the Buckeyes since their loss to Michigan, the weight of not winning that game, how they have turned the page, and the opportunity that is still ahead of them. Rece Davis reports. Will air on both Friday and Saturday.
- No Place Like Home – The crowd, the weather, the routine – a home-field advantage comes in a variety of ways. Now, for the first time ever, four schools will host games in the First Round of the College Football Playoff. A look at the contrast between the teams preparing for a first-round matchup in enemy territory and those enjoying their home sweet home in front of 100,000 roaring fans. Ryan McGee reports. Will air on both Friday and Saturday.
- Week of the Irish – Notre Dame defensive tackle Rylie Mills provides an all-access look at his days leading up to the first ever on-campus College Football Playoff game, taking us behind the scenes with the Fighting Irish and their preparations.
- History Meets History – There is perhaps no program more entrenched in the history and fabric of college football than Notre Dame. This Friday provides yet another opportunity for the Fighting Irish to be a part of another first in the sport’s history. Ryan McGee reflects on the perfection and the poetry of this moment, as the Irish get set to usher in the new era of the College Football Playoff.
Saturday Features
- From State to the CFP – Saturday’s CFP matchup marks the first time that Texas and Clemson have ever met on the football field, but that doesn’t mean the two teams are entirely unfamiliar. Back in 2020, Texas QB Quinn Ewers faced off against his current teammate Michael Taaffe and Clemson QB Cade Klubnik in the Texas 6A Division 1 State Championship Game. While some of them have fonder memories than others, the three are excited to face each other once again on another big stage in Texas. Jen Lada reports.
- The King and I – After SMU’s loss to BYU in early September, Kevin Jennings took over the starting quarterback role and the Mustangs won nine straight games, vaulting them into the College Football Playoff. Jennings’ success is thanks in part to a unique connection with his QB coach D’Eriq King. That player-coach relationship has come full circle for King, who played quarterback for SMU’s head coach Rhett Lashlee when Lashlee was the OC at Miami just three years ago. We go inside the SMU program to see how King and Jennings have grown together over the course of their magical run. Andrea Adelson reports.
- 1996 Citrus Bowl – In what was the first, and up to this point the only, meeting between Ohio State and Tennessee, the 1996 Citrus Bowl featured Peyton Manning, Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George, wind, rain, mud, a poncho clad Ryan McGee and some controversial cleats. Ryan McGee reports.
- The Pulse of the People – On Saturday, Ohio State will host Tennessee in the first round of the inaugural 12-team playoff. Ohio Stadium will be sold out, but with Tennessee fans planning to paint The Shoe orange, how is Buckeye Nation feeling about their team…and their coach? Marty Smith reports.
ESPN Marketing Activates for First Round Playoff Parties
The First Round of the CFP on campus brings all the pageantry, traditions, and tailgating of home games to the CFP. With two primetime games on ESPN platforms, ESPN is celebrating with fans on campus, taking over bars at Notre Dame and Ohio State from 4-11 p.m. in South Bend, Ind. (Friday, Dec. 20 – Linebacker Lounge) and Columbus, Ohio (Saturday, Dec. 21 – The Little Bar). Both destinations are less than a mile walk from their respective stadiums, historic staples in their towns, and are the perfect place for a Playoff Party. With free food, custom giveaways, raffles, a DJ and more, these are can’t-miss meetups before the new era of the CFP kicks off.
What’s Next
Following the First Round double dip, GameDay will continue its Playoff run with special editions originating from the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential on Wednesday, Jan. 1 (10 a.m. – 1 p.m.), followed by back-to-back episodes from both Semifinals – Thursday, Jan. 9 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Orange Bowl, and Friday, Jan. 10 from 6-7:30 p.m. live from the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
The season culminates at the CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T in Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 20, with a special episode from 5-7 p.m. before the big game (7:30 p.m.).
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Media Contact:
Julie McKay, ESPN Communications – Julie.McKay@espn.com, @McKay_Julie
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