ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ Returning to Tuscaloosa For Alabama-LSU
"College GameDay" is heading back to Tuscaloosa.
ESPN announced Saturday night that the popular three-hour college football pregame show will broadcast live outside Bryant-Denny Stadium next week ahead of Alabama's meeting with No. 4 LSU.
It's the second time this season the show will air live from the Walk of Champions after previously coming on Sept. 19 ahead of the Crimson Tide's game against Ole Miss. "College GameDay" was also in Fort Worth for its season-opening game against Wisconsin, though the actual game took place in Arlington, Texas.
For Alabama, Saturday will mark the eighth time the Crimson Tide has played LSU in the "GameDay" game, including the fourth time in the last six games played in Tuscaloosa (2005, 2011, 2013 and 2015) in the series. Under coach Nick Saban, Alabama is 4-1 against the Tigers when the ESPN show is on site, with its lone loss coming in a 9-6 overtime defeat in the famous 2011 "Game of the Century." The other two "GameDay" games were the 2012 BCS National Championship and the 2012 game in Baton Rouge, both won by the Crimson Tide.
All time, Alabama is 21-13 in "GameDay" games (5-2 against LSU), including an 18-7 record since 2007, the year Saban took over as the team's coach. The Crimson Tide's 26 appearances on the show during that stretch is five more than the next closest school (Oregon).
ESPN has not yet made an announcement on a guest picker. Country music singers Brad Paisley and Eric Church served in the role for Alabama's two "GameDay" games earlier this season. In 2013, the last time Alabama-LSU "GameDay" game, MLB pitcher and Alabama native Jake Peavy was the guest picker, while another MLB pitcher, Brian Wilson, held the role for the 2011 game.
Last season, former Navy SEAL and "Lone Survivor" author Marcus Luttrell, who was already scheduled to speak at Tuscaloosa’s Bama Theatre as part of his “Patriot Tour" earlier in the week, and former Alabama quarterback Joe Namath were the guest pickers for the Tide's games against Mississippi State and Auburn, respectively.
Race Davis, an Alabama graduate, will host the show, alongside analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack, as well as contributors Sam Ponder, Tom Rinaldi, George Whitfield and Gene Wojciechowski. Davis is in his first year hosting the show after replacing longtime host Chris Fowler.
Alabama-LSU will kickoff at 7 p.m. on CBS. Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson will call the game, with Allie LaForce on the sidelines.