ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot heads to Provo, Utah, for the first time since 2009, setting up live on the lawn at Heritage Halls on BYU’s campus on Saturday, October 17, ahead of the AP Top-10 showdown between the BYU Cougars and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The show airs from 9 a.m. – noon ET on ESPN, ESPNU, Disney+ and the ESPN App.
Saturday’s visit marks only the second time BYU has hosted College GameDay, the second AP Top-10 matchup in BYU program history and the first such matchup ever played at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Pro Football Hall of Famer and Super Bowl champion Steve Young — a former BYU standout — will serve as this week’s celebrity guest picker, as announced on The Pat McAfee Show.
BYU enters Saturday at 5-0, marking the third consecutive season and fifth time under head coach Kalani Sitake (since 2016) that the Cougars have opened 5-0. That figure matches the total number of 5-0 starts across the program’s first 94 seasons from 1922–2015. BYU has begun a season 6-0 seven times in program history, including in each of the last two years.
The Cougars have six all-time wins against AP Top-10 opponents, most recently defeating No. 9 Baylor at home in 2022. Their only victory against an AP Top-2 team came in 1990 when they defeated No. 1 Miami at home.
Notre Dame enters Saturday on a 16-game winning streak, the second-longest active streak in the FBS behind Indiana (22). All 16 victories have come by double digits — tied for the third-longest such streak in the AP Poll era (since 1936). Notre Dame leads the all-time series against BYU, 7-2.
Rece Davis returns as host alongside analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban. College football insider Pete Thamel, college football analyst “Stanford Steve” Coughlin and reporters Jen Lada and Jess Sims round out the on-site team for the 2026 college football season.
Show guests and highlights
- BYU head coach Kalani Sitake joins College GameDay live on set ahead of the Cougars’ home game against Notre Dame.
- Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti joins College GameDay from Bloomington in a conversation with Lada.
- The GameDay Film Room with Nick Saban returns with a breakdown of Utah’s high-powered offense under veteran offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven.
- College GameDay will feature expanded coverage of Saturday’s six ranked matchups, including live pregame field-pass reports from Florida vs. No. 7 Texas, No. 16 Mississippi State vs. No. 22 LSU, and No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Indiana.
Features
- “You’ve Reached Coach Woody Hayes”: Imagine having the ability to call the coach of your favorite team following a big win — or, better yet, after a crushing loss. Such was the case in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s when then-Ohio State head football coach Woody Hayes had his home phone number listed for all to see. Decades later, that same number still rings and answers with as much Buckeye bravado as ever. Jen Lada reports.
- “Making the BAND — ‘The Music Bachs’”: For brothers Bear and Tiger Bachmeier — BYU quarterback and wide receiver, respectively — it all began about nine years ago when their Uncle Don gifted his nephew Tiger a small wooden guitar. Bear eventually got his own, and Tiger taught him how to play. Now, some blue and white candy-striped overalls later, the “Music Bachs,” an acoustic folk country trio, is taking the world by storm one local festival at a time. Jess Sims reports.
- “Opportunity Knocks”: If there was a knock against Notre Dame headed into the season, it was the perceived lack of high-level opponents on its schedule. The biggest test yet arrives near the Wasatch Mountains of Utah as the Irish visit the BYU Cougars. College GameDay goes all-access with head coach Marcus Freeman as he prepares his team to make the most of their next major opportunity.
Pat McAfee’s “Kicking is Easy delivered by The Home Depot” contest
Pat McAfee’s “Kicking is Easy” contest, a fan-favorite segment, returns to College GameDay for its fourth season. Fans who arrive early will have a chance to be selected from the on-site pit to attempt a 33-yard field goal. Throughout his time on the show, McAfee and the contest have awarded more than $11.5 million through prizes and charitable donations. Full details, including official rules, can be found here.
Countdown to GameDay
Harry Douglas and Harry Lyles Jr. return for their fifth season as co-hosts of ESPN’s social and digital pre-pregame show, Countdown to GameDay, with Sims joining the duo this season as an additional co-host, reporting live from the College GameDaysite each week. The show is available weekly at 8:20 a.m. across ESPN on YouTube, Facebook and the ESPN App.
ESPN College GameDay scavenger hunt and First in Line club come to Provo
The ESPN College GameDay Scavenger Hunt continues at BYU, giving students and fans an interactive way to engage with the show throughout the week leading up to Saturday’s broadcast. Registration is open now, with three challenges — including snapping photos of campus landmarks and answering trivia about College GameDay — available via a dedicated digital microsite beginning Wednesday, October 14.
Fifteen winners selected at random from participants who complete all three tasks will each receive access, plus one guest, to a premium seating area near the front of the College GameDay broadcast within camera view, along with exclusive College GameDaymerchandise. Additional participants will also receive official College GameDay merchandise.
ESPN worked with experiential agency Assembli on the interactive digital and on-site fan experience, and with Flowcode connecting the initiative inside the new College Football ESPN Fan House.
Fans who arrive early could score more than bragging rights. ESPN will reward the first 50 fans in line for Saturday’s broadcast with an exclusive College GameDay prize pack, including a windbreaker, disposable camera, Jimmy John’s chips and gift card, sunglasses and more. Prize packs will be distributed ahead of the morning’s broadcast.