ESPN’s “College GameDay” is headed back to South Bend for Week 10, putting Miami-Notre Dame in the spotlight for a second straight week in Indiana.
Rece Davis will host the show alongside Alabama football legend Nick Saban, Pat McAfee, Desmond Howard and Kirk Herbstreit as the crew sets up for the top-5 matchup at Notre Dame Stadium. Miami comes in at 8-0 and sits No. 1 in the US LBM Coaches Poll, the AP Top 25 and the first College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday. Notre Dame is 7-1, ranked No. 4 in the AP poll and No. 11 in the CFP rankings.
Both teams survived Week 9, but in different ways. Miami escaped North Carolina with a 38-35 win in Chapel Hill, while Notre Dame shook off a slow start and handled Navy 35-13.
The trip marks the 13th time Notre Dame has hosted GameDay. The last visit to South Bend came on Dec. 20, 2024, when the Irish beat Indiana in the first on-campus College Football Playoff game.
Notre Dame’s overall GameDay total now stands at 43 appearances, dating back to the show’s first on-campus broadcast in 1993, when the Irish met Florida State in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 game.
Indiana has already had its turn this season, too. ESPN was in Bloomington in Week 9 before Indiana’s 23-16 overtime win over Minnesota.
Miami-Notre Dame had been viewed as a possible GameDay destination before the season, and the matchup has only grown bigger since then. The added wrinkle is Notre Dame’s lower-than-expected spot in Tuesday’s CFP reveal, which gives the game even more weight.
Still, Week 10 is loaded, and ESPN had other tempting options. Alabama visits LSU in a game with major playoff implications, with both teams at 6-2 and ranked in the CFP top 15. GameDay was in Baton Rouge in Week 1 for Lane Kiffin’s first game as LSU’s coach against Clemson.
Ole Miss also had a case with No. 2 Georgia coming to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in prime time, but the Rebels have already hosted the show this season. Utah’s top-10 meeting with BYU in Salt Lake City was another possibility, though the Utes also welcomed GameDay only two weeks ago when Houston came to town.
With ESPN usually avoiding a second regular-season stop at the same campus, South Bend was the logical call.
Kickoff for Miami-Notre Dame is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on NBC.
“College GameDay” begins at 8 a.m. CT on ESPN.
In Other News...
Alabama Heads To LSU With One Big Availability Question
With the Southeastern Conference now requiring injury reports for football, basketball and baseball conference games starting in 2024, Alabamas weekly availability picture has become part of the conversation as much as the matchup itself. Heading into its seventh SEC game of the 2026 season against LSU, the Crimson Tide is still sorting through a roster that has been hit by injuries, even as head coach Kalen DeBoer said several previously sidelined players are making progress in their recoveries.
There is still no shortage of uncertainty around the depth chart, though, and Alabama is carrying some season-ending absences into this stretch, including Jeremiah Beaman and Cayden Jones. For a team entering one of the SECs biggest rivalry games, the question is less about who is already ruled out and more about which of the recovering players can actually make it back in time to matter against LSU. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Heads Into LSU Week With One Big Availability Problem
Alabamas first availability report for LSU week brought a familiar kind of late-season concern, with five starters and one key running back listed as questionable because of injuries. There is some optimism around several of those names, including Ryan Coleman-Williams, Terrance Green and Racin Delgatty, but the list also leaves room for real uncertainty as the Crimson Tide work through the week.
Zabien Brown, Will Sanders and EJ Crowell are among the players whose status remains less clear, and that is where the issue starts to matter beyond just the injury report itself. How much depth Alabama has to lean on, and how effective it can be if a few of those pieces are limited or unavailable, could shape the way this matchup with LSU unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Faces A Brutal LSU Warning Ahead Of Playoff Test
The buildup to Alabamas next test has turned into a warning label, and Joel Klatt is not sugarcoating it. In previewing the matchup with LSU, the Fox Sports analyst pointed to the Tigers pass rush and overall defensive play as the kind of pressure that can expose some of Alabamas recent issues on the ground, a concern that matters even more with the playoff picture tightening.
Klatt also leaned into LSUs recent momentum at quarterback, noting Sam Leavitts strong play, while the injury situation for both teams adds another layer to a game that already feels like a measuring stick. He went as far as to pick LSU to win, projecting a 30-17 final, which only sharpens the stakes for Alabama as it heads into a matchup where the margin for error looks thin. [Read more 🡒]