ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot returns to Pittsburgh for a Top 25 showdown as No. 22 Pitt hosts No. 9 Notre Dame

• Former Pitt All-American Aaron Donald to serve as this week’s celebrity guest picker
• Week 12 special guests: Pitt legend Tony Dorsett, former Notre Dame and Steelers star Jerome Bettis, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi and Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love
• Pittsburgh-area native Pat McAfee returns to hometown with fan-favorite Kicking is Easy contest
• ACC Network’s traveling pregame show ACC Huddle also live from outside Acrisure Stadium

ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot will be live from Pittsburgh ahead of a Top 25 showdown between tradition-rich programs as No. 22 Pitt hosts No. 9 Notre Dame. The premier college football pregame show will originate from outside Acrisure Stadium on The Great Lawn beginning at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN, ESPNU and Disney+. The show moves inside the stadium for the final hour beginning at 11 a.m., before the Irish and Panthers kick off at noon on ABC.

College GameDay is returning to Pittsburgh for the first time since 2022, when the program covered the Backyard Brawl against West Virginia on a Thursday to open the season. Saturday’s visit will mark the first time in 20 years that GameDay travels to Pittsburgh for a Saturday game, when the Panthers also hosted the Fighting Irish in 2005. Notre Dame will make its 41st appearance on the show and eighth under head coach Marcus Freeman.

Host Rece Davis is at the helm for his 11^th season, joined at the desk by GameDay analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee – a native of nearby Plum, Pa. – 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 for the 2025 college football season.

Show Highlights & Guests

• Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi joins College GameDay live on set ahead of the Panthers’ Top 25 showdown with the Irish. Plus, Notre Dame star running back Jeremiyah Love joins for a live interview from the field inside Acrisure Stadium during pregame warmups.
• A trio of legendary players from both Pittsburgh and Notre Dame will join the GameDay set live throughout the three-hour program. Former ACC Defensive Player of the Year and one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history Aaron Donald joins as this week’s celebrity guest picker before his No. 97 is officially retired by Pitt during Saturday’s game. Plus, former Pitt All-American and College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett and former Notre Dame star running back and Pittsburgh Steelers legend Jerome Bettis join the show live. Bettis’ son, Jerome Bettis Jr., is a freshman wide receiver for the Irish.
• Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest – Back for its third season, the fan-favorite Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest will offer an exclusive competition during the live show. 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. McAfee has given out more than $5 million of his own money in prizes and charity donations across his time on the show. Full details, including official rules, can be found here.
• Coach’s Film Room – Nick Saban, the seven-time National Champion and legendary college football head coach, goes inside the film room to break down Oklahoma’s top-ranked SEC defense before its matchup with the Alabama offense led by quarterback Ty Simpson.
• Aggies All-Access – College GameDay takes viewers inside Texas A&M’s game week preparations ahead of their showdown with South Carolina (noon, ESPN). Aggies head coach Mike Elko is wired for sound.

The show and offerings are free for fans and early arrival is suggested for these exclusive offers. For onsite information, please visit College GameDay’s Hub HERE.

Features:

• Shirtless Wonders – ‘Everything is better shirtless’… that’s what an Oklahoma State fan must have been thinking when dared by his sister to take his shirt off in the middle of a Cowboys blowout loss. What started as one man creating a moment in the mundane became a movement. From Lansing to Lubbock, Blacksburg to Bloomington, Western Michigan to Wazzou, ordinary humans and college football’s finest fans, began converting their stadiums into shrines of screaming shirt-waving warriors. Why, you ask?  Because life is too short to stay buttoned up as described by our own frequently bare-chested brother, Pat McAfee, and one of the forefathers of the chest hair chest bump, comedian, Bert Kreischer. Pat McAfee reports.
• Luckie – Lawson Luckie, one of the most sought-after tight end prospects in the country coming out of high school in Norcross, Georgia, had an opportunity to play almost anywhere, but only one school provided him the opportunity to be something that the others couldn’t. As much as Luckie could’ve been the Big Man on Campus, he’s always prioritized an even bigger role, as a big brother to Cannon. It’s a relationship built on love and loyalty that has the Georgia tight end living his life with far more than wins and losses on his mind. Jen Lada reports.
• The Steel City – We want our football players to be stronger than steel. With tempers that burn hotter than coal. And a drive as unstoppable as a river…no, Three Rivers!  As Pittsburgh Steelers legend Bill Cowher explains, it should come as no surprise that Pittsburgh isn’t merely afootball town. It is THE football town. Ryan McGee reports.

ACC Huddle

ACC Network’s season-long campus road shows continue this week at Pittsburgh as ACC Huddle airs live from ROC’n on Rooney beginning at 10 a.m. on ACC Network. Taylor Tannebaum hosts alongside analysts Eric Mac Lain, Eddie Royal and Jimbo Fisher. Pitt legend Tony Dorsett will also join the Huddle crew for a live on-set interview, while former Panthers star defensive back Darrelle Revis will serve as this week’s celebrity guest picker.

ESPN’s Expansive Digital Coverage
Back for their fourth season together, Christine Williamson, Harry Douglas and Harry Lyles Jr. co-host ESPN’s social and digital pre-pregame show, Countdown to GameDay Presented by Dr Pepper. Countdown kicks off college football Saturdays with fun, fresh insights into the full weekend slate of games. The show is available across ESPN on YouTube, Facebook and the ESPN App at 8:20 a.m. weekly.

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