No. 10 BYU is putting itself in position for a massive October 17 matchup with Notre Dame, and that has College GameDay talking.
On the College GameDay podcast, Rece Davis said “there's a really good chance” the show could head to Provo for BYU’s meeting with the Fighting Irish, as long as both teams arrive unbeaten. Davis stressed that he wasn’t making a formal report, but he made clear why the matchup is drawing so much attention.
“I don't know where else you would have gone the first four weeks if you really looked at the storylines, and then we're at Iowa this week,” Davis said. “And, you know, who knows? I'm not trying to give away secrets because no decision has been made, but I think there's a really good chance we'll be at BYU.”
He went on to add that he was simply looking at the weekend’s schedule and weighing what might stand out nationally.
“I'm not trying to give anything away. That may not happen...
I'm gonna get in trouble with PR and probably with management for even bringing that up. We haven't come close to making a decision on that yet.
I'm just looking at the schedule...it might be the best game of the weekend, you know, and both might still be undefeated...it certainly would be a contender.”
Before any of that becomes real, BYU still has work to do. The Cougars have TCU and Iowa State coming up, and while they’ll be favored in both, FPI gives them just a 59.6% chance to get through the next two games unbeaten. Notre Dame, meanwhile, has a 90% chance to beat both North Carolina and Stanford and enter the BYU game undefeated.
BYU’s history with GameDay is short but memorable. The last time the show came to Provo was in 2008, when the Cougars faced TCU. The Horned Frogs won convincingly that day, and it remains the only time BYU has hosted College GameDay.
In recent seasons, BYU has had more success with FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff. The Cougars hosted the show twice over the last two years, for games against Arizona in 2024 and Utah in 2025, and won both of those contests.
If BYU and Notre Dame both keep winning, October 17 could turn into one of the biggest games ever played at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
In Other News...
Ryan Smith Just Reinforced Why BYU Can Compete In NIL
Ryan Smiths latest comments offered a timely reminder that BYUs place in the NIL era is not built on one splashy donor, but on a broad and energized base of support. The Utah Jazz and Utah Mammoth owner, who is a BYU graduate, talked in a recent interview about his financial backing of Cougars athletics and framed it as part of a much larger effort from alumni who continue to give because the school means something to them.
For BYU, that matters because competing in modern college sports is as much about sustained buy-in as it is about headlines. Smith pointed to the depth of the donor pool around the program, stressing that the support comes from many different people instead of a single source, and his own involvement is tied to his connection to the university as an alumnus. In a landscape where financial muscle often shapes roster building, BYUs case looks stronger when one of its most prominent boosters says the network behind it is bigger than most outsiders may realize. [Read more 🡒]
BYUs Defensive Rotation Is Already Creating A Bigger Opportunity
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The bigger question now is how that rotation changes once the season resumes, particularly with injuries forcing the staff to keep sorting through depth. A younger safety like Kennan Pula is among the names positioned to benefit if the coaching staff decides to expand the defensive group even further, and BYUs approach suggests those opportunities may come sooner rather than later. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Just Inherited The Big 12 Pressure Fans Have Wanted
Week 4 of the Big 12 season brought the kind of shakeup BYU fans have been waiting to see, with several results reshaping the conference race in a hurry. Cincinnati handed Kansas State its first loss, Oklahoma State went into West Virginia and came away with a win, and Utah took care of Iowa State on the road, all of which tightened the pressure at the top and made every upcoming league game feel a little heavier.
For BYU, that kind of chaos is part opportunity, part test. The Cougars now find themselves in a conference where every week can alter the standings, and the next round of matchups will say plenty about who can handle the grind when the league starts sorting itself out. Week 5 brings another chance for teams to prove they belong in the conversation, and BYU is right in the middle of the conversation fans have been eager to have. [Read more 🡒]