ESPN’s College GameDay is headed back to Knoxville, and it’s bringing one of the biggest matchups on the early-season calendar with it.
The show will set up on the lawn of Ayres Hall next weekend for No. 15 Tennessee’s home date with No.
1 Texas in Week 4. GameDay will air from 9 a.m.
ET to 11 a.m. on ESPN before moving inside Neyland Stadium for the final hour from 11 a.m. to noon, right up to kickoff. The game itself will be shown on ABC.
It’s another familiar stop for the Volunteers and their fans. This will be the second straight season GameDay has visited Tennessee’s campus, after last year’s broadcast for the Sept. 13 matchup with No.
6 Georgia. Overall, this trip will mark the show’s 13th appearance in Knoxville.
College GameDay teased the announcement on social media with: “Time to find out who the real UT is 😏”
The timing fits the rankings and the records. Both Tennessee and Texas enter at 3-0 after home wins on Saturday night. Tennessee rolled past Kennesaw State, 42-9, while Texas handled UTSA, 30-6.
The Vols have opened with three convincing wins. They started with a 56-9 victory over Furman on Sept. 5, then went to Atlanta and beat Georgia Tech, 45-24, before taking care of Kennesaw State.
Texas has been just as sharp. The Longhorns opened with a 57-7 win over Texas State, then followed it up by knocking off previously ranked No. 1 Ohio State, 24-23.
This week’s GameDay crew will feature Nick Saban, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee. Jen Lada and Jess Sims will serve as reporters, with Stanford Steve on research and Pete Thamel as the college football insider.
Knoxville has become one of GameDay’s regular stops over the years, and this latest visit adds another chapter to a long list of Tennessee appearances. The show’s previous trips to Vols games have included matchups across multiple seasons, from the 1990s through last year’s visit against Georgia, and now it returns for a top-15 showdown with Texas.
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 🡒]