College GameDay (football TV program)

College GameDay
2015–2019 logo
Presented by	Rece Davis
Starring	Lee Corso Kirk Herbstreit Desmond Howard Pat McAfee Nick Saban Jen Lada Jess Sims Pete Thamel Steve Coughlin
Opening theme	"Comin' to Your City" by Big & Rich
Country of origin	United States
Production
Production locations	Bristol, Connecticut (1987–2002) On location (1993–present)
Running time	180 minutes
Original release
Network	ESPN
Release	September 5, 1987 (1987-09-05) – present
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

College GameDay (branded as ESPN College GameDay built by The Home Depot for sponsorship reasons) 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. In its current form, the program is typically broadcast from the campus of the team hosting a featured game being played that day and features news and analysis of the day's upcoming games.

It first aired in 1987 with Tim Brando as host and Lee Corso and Beano Cook as commentators, giving an overview of college football games. Karie Ross soon became the first female to join the broadcast.^[1] The show underwent a radical transformation beginning in 1993, and began incorporating live broadcasts. Today, the only original cast member remaining is Lee Corso,^[2] whose appearances have been pre-scripted since suffering a stroke in 2009.^[3] Rece Davis serves as host and Kirk Herbstreit is Corso's counterpart. 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. Nick Saban was then added to the show in 2024. In 2010, the program was expanded from two to three hours, with the opening hour broadcast on ESPNU until 2013.

In 2020 the show received a massive graphic update.

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 five predictors: Corso, Herbstreit, Howard, Pat McAfee, and an invited guest, usually a celebrity, prominent athlete, or radio personality associated with the host school for that week. The show always concludes 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. As of January 8, 2024, Corso is 274–139 in his headgear picks. 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.^[4] Corso made his 400th headgear pick on September 16, 2023, for the Colorado/Colorado State rivalry game, he put on the headgear for Colorado.

As of January 8, 2024, Ohio State – Penn State and Alabama – LSU is the most featured matchup, appearing 12 times on College Gameday. Alabama – Georgia has been featured 10 times. Florida – Tennessee, Michigan – Ohio State and Army – Navy have been featured 9 times. Alabama – Auburn, Florida – Florida State, Florida State – Miami, and Oklahoma – Texas currently sit at 8.