ESPN College GameDay, organized by The Home Depot, travels to the Lone Star State for a showdown between new SEC rivals No. 1 Texas and No. 5 Georgia

ESPN Images selects from the previous Matchday Travel to Texas

• College football's premier pregame show travels to Austin, Texas, for a full “ESPN Texas Takeover” weekend and a top-five SEC matchup
• Week 7 special guests: Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, Longhorns legend Vince Young, Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas and comedian Tony Hinchcliffe; World No. 1 golfer and former Texas player Scottie Scheffler joins us as a Week 8 guest picker
• Fans who arrive early will have a chance to win prizes including exclusive t-shirts, free breakfast, photo opportunities with a specially Texas-packaged Formula 1 car and a chance to be selected for the Pat McAfee Kicking Contest and $90,000 to win Pat's Money

ESPN's College GameDay, built by The Home Depot will be live from Austin, Texas ahead of one of the most anticipated matchups of the season as No. 1 Texas hosts new SEC rival No. 5 Georgia. The premier college football pregame show returns to the AP Top 5 matchup for the third time this season, airing from 9 a.m. to noon ET on ESPN and ESPNU on the South Mall on campus.

The Matchday The visit complements a full “ESPN Texas Takeover” weekend that includes the Top 5 college football showdown on Saturday evening and the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on Sunday. Additional ESPN and ABC programming and event activations will take place during the action-packed weekend in Austin.

host Rece Daviswho is in his tenth season at the helm, is joined at the desk by Matchday Analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee And Nick Saban. College Football Insider Pete Thamel, College football betting analystStanford Steve' Coughlin and reporters Jen Lada And Jess Sims round that off Matchday pour.

Following the pregame show, the leading game team from Chris Fowler, Herbstreit And Holly Rowe, joined Katie George, will be on the phone ABC Saturday Night Football presented by Capital One (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC, ESPN+).

At the halfway point of the college football regular season College game day remains on track for its best season ever, averaging 2.2 million viewers, up 9% from the 2023 season. The trip to Oregon in Week 7 was the best October episode since the series expanded to three hours and the second best October episode of all time.

On location in Austin
The first 200 fans will receive free breakfast tacos to start their morning and have a chance to win prizes, including exclusive prizes Matchday T-shirts and a chance to win a photo at the legendary desk with the show's analysts.

Other offerings this week include the opportunity to take photos with a specially Texas-packaged Formula 1 car and play Pitch-a-Fit to win additional prizes.

Pat McAfee's Kicking Contest – Returning to the second season, Matchday will offer an exclusive competition during the live show, Pat McAfee's Kicking Contest. Fans who arrive early will have the chance to be picked from the “pit” on site and attempt a 33-yard field goal. If the participant successfully completes the kick, they will receive $90,000 from McAfee. Full details, including official rules, can be found here Here.

The show and offerings are free to fans and early arrival is recommended for these exclusive offerings.

For on-site information please visit College game day's Hub HERE.

View highlights & guests

• Coaches & players continue Matchday – Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian will visit them Matchday plays during the pre-Longhorns game show. The show offers a look at Indiana's preparation for its matchup with Nebraska at Hoosiers linebacker Aiden Fisher Wired for sound earlier this week.
• Coach’s film room – Saban takes fans into his film room to break down undefeated Navy's new-look offense.
• Texas Takeover Crossover – Sims chats with F1 drivers before the show and tests their knowledge of American college football, while Saban takes a hot lap at the Circuit of the Americas, home of Sunday's Formula 1 race.
• Special guests – Texas football legend Vince Young stops at Matchday this week. The former quarterback is one of the most decorated QBs in Longhorn history and was the third overall pick in the NFL Draft following his college career. Highly decorated Olympic track and field medalist Gabby Thomas also takes part in the pregame show this week. The Austin native won three gold medals at the Paris Olympics this summer. comedian Tony Hinchcliffe will appear on the show and compete in his kicking contest with McAfee this week.
• Guest selection – #1 golfer in the world and ex-Texas Scottie Scheffler returns to Austin to join College game day as the Week 8 Celebrity Guest Pick. Scheffler is coming off a historic seven-win season on the PGA TOUR, which included a successful title defense at THE PLAYERS Championship and a season-long win at the TOUR Championship, earning the title of FedExCup Champion the PGA TOUR 2024 secured. Other career-defining victories this season include his second Masters Tournament title, a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and being part of the victorious U.S. team at the Presidents Cup.

Additional guests will be announced prior to Saturday's show Twitter from ESPN PR And College game dayis Twitter.

Corsos Count

• Coach Corso will make his 419th mascot headgear selection this week in Texas. So far this season, his selection has gone a perfect 5-0.
• This will be the Longhorns' 10th time hosting Matchdayand Texas will be appearing on the show for the 24th time. Corso is 9-6 in the last 15 games in which he has picked Texas, including a win earlier this season in Week 2 against Michigan.
• The Bulldogs will be making their 37th appearance on the pregame show, with Corso choosing the Georgia headgear 13 times, for a record of 8-5 in those games.

Features:

• Texas fight — Since his freshman year, Texas left tackle Kelvin Banks has started every game for the Longhorns, but his mother wasn't in the stands for most of those games. For two years, Monica Banks suffered from health problems that baffled doctors and left her unable to walk and talk. Thanks to her husband's determination and a chance conversation, Monica is on the road to recovery – wearing an orange jersey and cheering for her son. Jen Lada Reports.
• Tennessee tradition – “Papaw Carroll” was the biggest Tennessee football fan, and there was nothing he took more seriously than the Volunteers' rivalry with the Alabama Crimson Tide. After his death, his grandson Josh began the tradition of maintaining ties to the Vols with a special tribute at Papaw's gravesite that continues to this day – and especially on the third Saturday in October.
• Fall wedding 101 – There are only so many Saturdays in the fall when the rest of the world falls away and it's just you and college football day ahead. But what happens when one of those Saturdays suddenly stops being yours because… “You’re welcome.” Marty Smith And Ryan McGee Consider how you'll get through the fall wedding season if the couple's special day watching football gets in the way.
• Half hope – As we approach the halfway point of an already incredible college football season, fans have witnessed all-time unforgettable moments, tremendous upsets and weekly awesomeness. But there is one thing that many teams are unfamiliar with this far into the season: hope. Ryan McGee Reports.

Extensive digital coverage from ESPN

ESPN's social and digital pre-pregame show, Countdown to GameDay, presented by Dr. Pepperwill be live from Austin with hosts Christine Williamson, Harry Douglas And Harry Lyles Jr. for the eighth week show. Lifelong Longhorn linebacker Brian Orakpo will join the show as a special guest at the start of the show, Douglas will do a film recap of Georgia's offense and “Stanford Steve” will join the trio to discuss the best college football plays of the week. The show is available weekly at 8:20 a.m. on ESPN on YouTube, Facebook and the ESPN app.

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Media contact:
Julie McKay, ESPN Communications – (email protected), @McKay_Julie