College GameDay in Austin: A History of Football Festivities

College GameDay, branded as ESPN College GameDay built by The Home Depot, is a pre-game show broadcast by ESPN as part of the network's coverage of college football. Broadcast on Saturday mornings during the college football season, the show takes on a festive tailgate party atmosphere, as thousands of fans gather behind the broadcast set, in view of the show's cameras. Many fans bring flags or hand-painted signs as well, and the school's cheerleaders and mascots often join in the celebration.

The Essence of College GameDay

The crowds at GameDay tapings are known to be quite boisterous and very spirited. Flags seen at the broadcast are not limited to those of the home team; for example, one large Washington State flag can be seen at every broadcast, regardless of the location or the teams involved. The show's current main intro and theme music is performed by country music group The Cadillac Three featuring country singers Darius Rucker and Lainey Wilson, who perform the 2005 crossover hit "Comin' to Your City" by Big & Rich, which features revised lyrics which mention several top college teams. Big & Rich had performed the song, which featured a guest appearance by Cowboy Troy until 2022. Rap artist Travie McCoy (of Gym Class Heroes) appeared in the intro from the 2014 season until the 2017 season alongside Lzzy Hale, lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock group Halestorm. The 2018 through 2022 season featured rock artist ZZ Ward, replacing Hale. Additional music that has been used for the show include "Boom" by the rock group P.O.D. and God Bless Saturday by Kid Rock.

The Prediction Segment

The show is known for its prediction segment that appears at the end of each broadcast. The predictions use the standard scoring system and do not use the spread in determining the pick. Typically there are six predictors: Lee Corso (who retired shortly after the start of the 2025 season), Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee, and an invited guest, usually a celebrity, prominent athlete, or radio personality associated with the host school for that week. From 1987 until his retirement in 2025, the show famously concluded with Corso's prediction for the host school's game, after which he dons the mascot's headgear of the team he predicts to win the game, usually to the ire or excitement of local fans. His first headgear pick occurred on October 5, 1996, when he correctly picked the Ohio State Buckeyes over the Penn State Nittany Lions. In 2018, Corso made his first NFL headgear pick when, as a guest on Sunday NFL Countdown, he correctly picked the New Orleans Saints to win their Week 9 game at home against the Los Angeles Rams. Corso made his 400th headgear pick on September 16, 2023, for the Colorado/Colorado State rivalry game, he put on the headgear for Colorado. Corso made his 431st and final headgear pick on August 30, 2025, correctly picking Ohio State to defeat the Texas Longhorns.

Notable Matchups

As of December 6, 2025, Ohio State-Penn State and Alabama-LSU are the most featured matchups, appearing thirteen times on College Gameday. Alabama-Georgia has been featured twelve times. Michigan-Ohio State have been featured ten times. Florida-Tennessee and Army-Navy have been featured nine times. Alabama-Auburn, Florida-Florida State, Florida State-Miami, and Oklahoma-Texas currently sit at eight appearances.

The Evolution of College GameDay

The GameDay crew record a post-game segment for SportsCenter at Nebraska (vs. Tim Brando was the original host, with Lee Corso and Beano Cook as commentators. Karie Ross soon became the first woman to join the broadcast. The show underwent a radical transformation beginning in 1993, and began incorporating live broadcasts. The longest-tenured original cast member was Lee Corso, whose appearances were pre-scripted after he suffered a stroke in 2009. Rece Davis serves as host and Kirk Herbstreit is the longest-tenured current cast member, having joined the show in 1996. Desmond Howard was added to the cast of the show in 2008. Craig James served as an analyst from 1990 to 1995. Erin Andrews joined the GameDay crew as a co-host and contributor in 2010, replaced in 2012 by Samantha Ponder (and in 2017 by Maria Taylor after Ponder left to become host of Sunday NFL Countdown that same year). In 2015, Rece Davis (also host of the college basketball version of GameDay) replaced Chris Fowler as host of the show. In 2022, Pat McAfee joined, having previously been an analyst, and Nick Saban was added to the show in 2024.

In 1993, GameDay took the show "on the road" for the first time, going to South Bend, Indiana for the match-up between #2 Notre Dame and #1 FSU on November 13. (Matchups between the top two teams were rare prior to the BCS). It broadcast from the Sports Heritage Hall at the Notre Dame Joyce Center. The format also changed from broadcasting from an indoor studio on site to live from outside a stadium hosting a big game most Saturdays. At Virginia Tech in November 2005, Corso picks the University of Miami to upset Virginia Tech. Note the head of Sebastian the Ibis, the University of Miami's mascot.

Typically, the show will end with Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit issuing their predictions for that day's key matchups, finishing with the game to be played at the stadium hosting GameDay, for which Corso signifies his prediction by donning the head piece of the mascot of his predicted winner. Starting with the 2009 season, a celebrity guest picker gives picks for the day's key games alongside the GameDay regulars (such as Bob Knight when GameDay aired from Texas Tech in 2008, NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. when GameDay aired from Bristol Motor Speedway (a NASCAR track) in 2016 and Verne Lundquist in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, since it was his final season calling college football games on CBS). Prior to 2009, this was not done on a regular basis. In past years, when no suitably important game was available, it would originate instead from the ESPN studios. In 2017, with no suitably important game available, one show aired from Times Square instead.

College GameDay was also a source for many arguments regarding the purported east coast bias: From 1993 until 2004, GameDay had only been to two regular season games on the entire West Coast (1998 at UCLA and 2000 at Oregon). With the addition of the Saturday Night Football game on ABC in 2006, GameDay has increasingly aired from that game. This could be done for many reasons including the fact Kirk Herbstreit is on both programs, thus making it easier for him. Beginning with the show's 21st season (2007), College GameDay began broadcasting in high-definition on ESPN HD. Also the same season, California became the first (and as of 2024, only) team to decline to host College GameDay, as the school believed GameDay should go to Virginia Tech after the Virginia Tech shooting earlier in the year.

College GameDay expanded to 3 hours, with the first hour being televised on ESPNU, beginning September 4, 2010. In addition, ESPN Radio simulcasts the television version from 9am-noon ET. Other changes include the addition of a female contributor-first Erin Andrews in 2010 and 2011, and then Samantha Ponder (then known by her maiden name, Samantha Steele) after Andrews left ESPN for Fox following the 2011 season. Both Andrews and Ponder have anchored several segments during the first hour on ESPNU, contributed during the ESPN portion, and also worked as a sideline reporter on the game from which College GameDay originated, if it aired on one of the ESPN family of networks (i.e. Beginning with the 2013 season, the third hour moved to ESPN and was hosted by Fowler. Starting in 2014, the show began a now annual visit to the Army-Navy Game in mid-December. As previously mentioned, beginning with the 29th season (2015), Rece Davis (who is also the host of the college basketball version) replaced Chris Fowler as the football version's new host. In March 2018, ESPN announced that it would broadcast a special edition of College GameDay from Arlington, Texas, as a pre-show for its coverage of day 1 of the 2018 NFL draft.

In the 2020 season, College GameDay underwent modifications due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program was broadcast without an audience, and with a modified desk to comply with social distancing rules. By 2023, the crowds of students returned, and exceeded their pre-pandemic numbers. On August 30, 2025, Corso retired from College GameDay, with the show broadcasting from Ohio State for its home opener against Texas. Corso conducted his headgear pick segment for the final time on the field of Ohio Stadium. With the game itself being televised by Fox, its competing pre-game show Big Noon Kickoff also carried the segment in tribute to Corso, as presented by the team's media department on Ohio Stadium's Jumbotron. The segment was retired afterward; the culmination of the show was replaced by Pat McAfee's selection, where he cuts a wrestling-style promo against the visiting team.

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Awards and Recognition

As of 2018, College GameDay has collected eight Sports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Studio Show, tied with TNT's Inside the NBA for the most wins by an analysis program. Beginning in at least 2010 and possibly going back as far as 1997, ESPN had listed fake names in the credit list for its College GameDay program. These names were similar to the names of actual ESPN employees who were ineligible to receive the awards-for example, "Lee Clark" and "Kirk Henry" were listed as "associate producers" on the show, which has Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit as on-air personalities.

In a statement released on January 12, 2024, ESPN said, "Some members of our team were clearly wrong in submitting certain names" and that "This was a misguided attempt to recognize on-air individuals who were important members of our production team". ESPN also stated that they had worked with NATAS to overhaul their submissions process to avoid something similar from happening in the future. NATAS stated that, after alerting ESPN to the scandal, "the network took steps to take responsibility for the actions of its personnel, to investigate thoroughly, and to course correct". Multiple individuals who had to return their Emmy statuettes expressed disappointment in the situation. Speaking a few days after the story became public, Desmond Howard-a College GameDay host who also received fraudulent statuettes-expressed frustration over the fact that Corso had to return his statuettes, saying, "They're taking that old man's Emmy's? If they're going to take his, you can have all of mine. I'll break these damn things. … I said 'How could y'all even let this happen to him?' I was fucked up over that. I'll break all of them. Take 'em in pieces.

College GameDay in Austin: A History

College GameDay has visited Austin 10 times in its 23 years. College GameDay is a Saturday morning ESPN show that travels across the country to different college campuses. College GameDay has visited Austin 10 times in its 23 years. Fans in the College Gameday Pit watch the show live on Nov. 12, 2022. Last weekend’s visit made history. “[The second visit] was a little bit quicker and more traditional where you find out for sure. Texas mascot Hook’Em holds a fan’s sign at College Gameday in Austin on Nov. 12, 2022. Martin described the week leading up to College Gameday as a quick-paced process- from the moment they received the call to the moment lights turned on set Saturday morning. “With my staff, it’s how do we find a way to say, ‘yes’? [ESPN] is gonna ask a lot of wild things,” said Martin. College Gameday travels with a huge set that is built and torn down every week. The College Gameday bus drives on the University of Texas campus as preparation for the show begins in Austin on Nov. 10, 2022. “I was struck by the scope of everything backstage. “Anytime that you have a three-hour [television] block [on] Saturday morning, that is the most watched gameday show that’s out there. A Longhorns fan puts up a hook’em horns hand sign during College Gameday in Austin on Nov. 12, 2022. ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot returns to Austin, Texas, for the second time this season ahead of the Lone Star State showdown between No. 18 Texas and undefeated No. 4 TCU. - noon ET on Saturday, Nov. 12 (ESPN and ESPNU, ESPN App). Rece Davis leads the show in his eighth season as host and is joined at the desk by GameDay analysts Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Pat McAfee and David Pollack. GameDay’s visit to Athens last week registered the show’s second-best audience of the season, scoring 2.24 million viewers and nearly 3 million viewers in the final hour. The audience was up 22% year-over-year (2021 Week 10: Cincinnati), and the prelude to Tennessee and Georgia’s Game of the Century is one of GameDay’s top-10 most-watched episodes since it expanded to three hours in 2013. PGA TOUR player and three-time major champion Jordan Spieth will join the GameDay crew as the Week 11 guest picker. Saturday marks six years to the day that the show was at the site of USC’s upset over No. 4 Washington, while No. 2 Clemson lost to Pitt and No. ESPN’s social and digital show, Countdown to GameDay Live will be live from Austin for the Week 11 show.

Texas has the upperhand in terms of rankings, but Oklahoma has had a strong season highlighted by an overtime victory against the No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks at home on Jan. 22. This could initiate the start of a hot streak for the team, while the Longhorns have just started reestablishing their footing after two consecutive losses against Texas A&M and South Carolina. What happens at the Moody Center on Feb. 1 could help either team create the momentum needed to approach the rest of the regular season and the SEC tournament.

The Georgia Bulldogs are coming to town and so is ESPN College GameDay. For the Week 8 SEC matchup, the weekly college football show is returning to Austin as two of the top teams in the nation get ready to clash. While in Eugene for the Oregon versus Ohio State game, Rece Davis announced that he and the crew would be in town for the Longhorns' biggest game yet. Here's a brief history of College GameDay's visits to Texas' capital.

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College GameDay at Texas: A Recap of Appearances

The Longhorns have hosted College GameDay in Austin nine times in the past and walked away with five of the wins.

Oct. 23, 1999 - No. 18 Texas defeated No. 3 Nebraska, 24-20
Oct. 4, 2003 - No. 13 Texas defeated No. 16 Kansas State, 24-20
Oct. 22, 2005 - No. 2 Texas defeated No. 8 Texas Tech, 52-17
Sept. 9, 2006 - No. 2 Texas lost to No. 1 Ohio State, 28-10
Oct. 18, 2008 - No. 1 Texas defeated No. 11 Missouri, 56-31
Sept. 19, 2009 - No. 2 Texas defeated Texas Tech, 34-24
Sept. 7, 2019 - No. 10 Texas lost to No. 6 LSU, 45-38
Sept. 10, 2022 - Texas lost to No. 1 Alabama, 20-19
Nov. 12, 2022 - No. 18 Texas lost to No. 4 TCU, 17-10

Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, and hopefully Lee Corso will roll into town as the Dawgs take on the Horns. Most recently, Texas has gone on a losing streak with College GameDay in town, two of the losses going to SEC opponents.

The First Visit: 1999

Corso and the boys didn’t make it to Austin until 1999, Mack Brown’s second season at Texas. The Longhorns had never even been apart of a featured GameDay matchup, so this was all new for the program. Nebraska was ranked No. 3 in the nation and Texas was No. 18. Texas had beaten Nebraska twice since 1996. Led by a future Heisman Trophy winner, Eric Crouch, Nebraska and second-year coach Frank Solich were rolling along in the BCS’s second season. In Austin, the Longhorns were adjusting to life without Ricky Williams. And they were adjusting pretty well. Brown was still stocking the cupboard that would yield some of the best years of the new millennium, but there was plenty of talent in Austin. Led by Hodges Mitchell at running back and sophomore quarterback Major Applewhite, Texas averaged 34.2 points per game and Mitchell finished with 1,343 rushing yards. Applewhite threw for 3,357 and 21 touchdowns, at the time one of the best passing seasons ever. But make no mistake, Texas was the underdog coming into this game against Nebraska, even after beating Oklahoma the previous game.

It didn’t matter. Nebraska took a 13-2 lead into halftime, but Texas would score two touchdowns coming out of halftime and entered the fourth quarter up 17-13. Crouch gave Nebraska the lead, 20-17, early in the fourth on a 9-yard run. Applewhite threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Mike Jones to give Texas a 24-20 lead with less than six minutes to go, and Texas held on for the win. It was the third win in a row over the Cornhuskers. “We don’t have their number,” Ahmad Brooks told the Statesman’s Mark Wangrin. “But we do have three wins. “You figure it out.” Statesman columnist Kirk Bohls wrote: “Texas’ third consecutive victory over Nebraska made a mess of the Cornhuskers’ national championship hopes for the second time in three years.” Nebraska went on to snap that streak in a big way with a 22-6 win in the Big 12 Championship Game in December. That was the second of three losses Texas would suffer to end the season, starting with Texas A&M and ending in the Cotton Bowl with a 27-6 loss to Arkansas. If anyone wondered why Applewhite had to fight for the starting job heading into his junior year, it might be because the Texas offense scored 6, 16 and 6 points in the final three games of the year, all losses.

Subsequent Appearances

GameDay aired outside the Red River Showdown in 2001, an Oklahoma win, and again in 2002, another Oklahoma win. GameDay returned to Austin in 2003 and the Longhorns beat Kansas State 24-20. In 2005, GameDay was in Columbus, Ohio for the Longhorns’ matchup with Ohio State and later that year came to Austin for the third time for the 52-17 win over No. 8 Texas Tech. In January, 2006 Texas was involved in a third GameDay game when the show went to the BCS National Championship Game. In 2006, Texas lost its first GameDay matchup on campus to Ohio State. In 2008, Texas was involved in three GameDay games, including in back-to-back weeks when at the Red River Showdown and in Austin for the Missouri game. Texas went 2-0 but then lost in Lubbock, the third GameDay contest, in the famous Michael Crabtree game. Texas got revenge in 2009 when they hosted the show for the Tech game and won.

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