ESPN College GameDay is heading back to Knoxville, and this one comes with all the familiar trimmings.
When Tennessee hosts top-ranked Texas next Saturday in Neyland Stadium, the show will make its 13th trip to Knoxville. As it has before, GameDay will start on the lawn of Ayres Hall from 9 a.m.
ET to 11 a.m., then shift inside Neyland Stadium for the final hour from 11 a.m. to noon ahead of the noon kickoff on ABC. Fans are being told to show up early.
Rece Davis is back for his 12th season as host, with Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban at the desk. Pete Thamel, “Stanford Steve” Coughlin, Jen Lada and Jess Sims also are part of the crew.
Herbstreit will stay busy after the show, joining Chris Fowler and Holly Rowe on ABC’s lead broadcast team for the SEC matchup.
The game will be played in a sold-out Neyland Stadium for the 30th straight time, with Checker Neyland presented by Pilot once again front and center. Fans are being asked to wear orange or white based on their seat location, and they can check their section by entering their section, row and seat number at CheckerNeyland.com using the information on their digital ticket.
More details on Friday’s on-campus ESPN programming are expected later this week.
Knoxville has become a regular stop for GameDay over the years, and next Saturday adds another entry to Tennessee’s long list of appearances. The show’s history at Tennessee stretches from 1995, when it was in town for Georgia at No.
8 Tennessee and No. 6 Tennessee at No.
12 Alabama, all the way through the 2026 listing of No. 1 Texas at No.
15 Tennessee. That run includes stops for games against Florida, Alabama, Miami, Auburn, South Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Georgia and Ohio State, along with the 1998 Orange Bowl, the 1999 BCS National Championship Game and the 2016 Battle at Bristol.
In Other News...
Tennessee Suddenly Has A Backfield Concern At The Worst Time
DeSean Bishops status is suddenly worth watching in Knoxville after the running back went down with a hip injury in the first half against Kennesaw State, then tried to gut it out again in the third quarter before leaving for good because of the pain. Tennessee still found ways to stay on schedule with Daune Morris handling additional carries and punching in a touchdown, but the game also made it clear how much the backfield depends on Bishops availability when the Volunteers want to stay balanced.
Now the attention shifts to a much bigger test against Texas, where every injury on the depth chart feels a little more expensive. Bishops ability to get back on the field, and how effective he can be if he does, will be one of the quieter but more important storylines for Tennessee as it starts preparing for a matchup that already looked demanding before the hip became an issue. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Fans Can't Assume The Usual Checker Neyland Look Vs Texas
Tennessee fans heading to Neyland Stadium for the Sept. 26 showdown with Texas will need to pay a little closer attention than usual before they pack their game-day gear. The familiar orange-and-white Checker Neyland pattern is getting flipped for this one, so the standard assumptions about which sections wear which color will not apply. Anyone planning to take part is being told to check their assigned color on CheckerNeyland.com before kickoff.
The timing only raises the profile of the matchup, with ESPNs College GameDay set to broadcast from the scene and a spotlight that figures to include Peyton Manning and Arch Manning among the notable attendees. Big games in Knoxville already carry enough pageantry on their own, but this one adds a little extra pressure to get the visual right, too. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffin Still Has Tennessee Fans Doing The Unthinkable
A small but determined contingent of Tennessee fans made the trip to Oxford, Mississippi, on Saturday night, and they had one mission in mind: showing up in Vols gear to pull against Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin. The group of seven paid $600 apiece for their seats and settled in for the Ole Miss-LSU matchup, even with Tennessee playing Kennesaw State at the same time.
By halftime, the scene had become even more layered for Tennessee followers keeping tabs on both games. Ole Miss was ahead of LSU 24-7, while Tennessee was in control against Kennesaw State, 21-3, leaving the Vols faithful with plenty to watch and an old rivalry thread still clearly unresolved. [Read more 🡒]