Photos from past GameDay trips to Texas A&M (via ESPN Images)
- College football’s premier pregame show spotlights SEC Rivalry Week game between Texas A&M and Texas – the first time the teams have matched up in a regular season game since 2011
- Week 14 Special Guests: Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko and Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian join the show live, with Ohio State’s head coach Ryan Day joining ahead of ‘The Game’ against Michigan; Dude Perfect joins throughout the show and as guest pickers
- Fans arriving early will have the chance to enter to be picked for McAfee’s Kicking Contest for the opportunity to win $150,000 of his money
ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot will be live from College Station, Texas, ahead of the Lone Star Showdown between No. 3 Texas and No. 20 Texas A&M. College football’s premier pregame show will be live from Texas A&M for the second time this season, spotlighting the first time the Longhorns and Aggies will meet since 2011, and the first meeting with both ranked in the AP Poll since 2004. College GameDay will originate from Aggie Park on the Texas A&M campus on Saturday, Nov. 30 from 9 a.m. – noon ET on ESPN & ESPNU.
Host Rece Davis, at the helm for his 10th season, is joined at the desk by GameDay analysts including Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban. College football insider Pete Thamel, college football betting analyst ‘Stanford Steve’ Coughlin and reporters Jen Lada and Jess Sims round out the GameDay cast.
Following the pregame show, the lead game team of Chris Fowler, Herbstreit and Holly Rowe will be on the call on ABC Saturday Night Football Presented by Capital One (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) for Rivalry Week’s primetime call and the 4K Game of the Week to close out the regular season. The Longhorns/Aggies action will also feature an SEC Network Skycast presentation.
College GameDay’s Week 13 trip to Ohio State marked the fourth most-watched regular season show of all time. The episode averaged 2.5 million average viewers and 3.1 million in the final hour with a peak of 3.5 million. The show remains on pace for its best season ever, averaging 2.2 million viewers.
Show Highlights & Guests
- Coaches on GameDay – Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko joins the show live from set while Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian will join via live talkback ahead of the Lone Star Showdown. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day will join for a live interview from Columbus, Ohio, ahead of ‘The Game’ against Michigan. Miami’s head coach Mario Cristobal gives GameDay inside access to his Friday night team speech ahead of the matchup against Syracuse – a win-and-in game for the No. 6 Hurricanes to the ACC Championship game.
- Coach’s Film Room – Saban breaks down Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard’s play this season and how he’s led the Fighting Irish to a No. 5 ranking.
- Celebrity Guest Picker – Sports and comedy group Dude Perfect joins College GameDay as the Rivalry Week guest pickers. The group, all former college roommates at Texas A&M, will join the program throughout Saturday’s show.
- Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest – Returning for its second season, GameDaywill offer an exclusive contest during the live show, Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest. Fans who arrive early will have a chance to be chosen from the ‘pit’ onsite with the opportunity to attempt a 33-yard field goal. If the contestant successfully completes the kick, they will be awarded $150,000 from McAfee. Full details, including official rules, can be found here.
For onsite information, please visit College GameDay’s Hub HERE.
Corso’s Count
- Coach Corso will be making his 425th mascot headgear selection during the return trip to College Station, with an 8-3 record this season.
- The show will be back at Texas A&M for the second time this season and Saturday marks the eighth time the Aggies have hosted all time, going 1-6 in their previous seven times hosting. Corso has picked Texas A&M’s headgear three previous times, going 1-2 in those picks.
- Texas will be making its 25th appearance on GameDay with the Longhorns going 12-12 in those showings. The Bevo headgear has been picked by Corso 16 times previously, going 9-7.
Features:
- Stuck In the Middle – Fifty miles east of Austin and fifty miles southwest of College Station sits Giddings, Texas, a town whose split loyalties may have grown a little too friendly over the past decade. But with the return of the Lone Star Showdown between Texas and Texas A&M, things are heating back up.
- Together We Fight – In March of 2019, when now-Michigan quarterback Davis Warren was 17 years old, he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and his high school football career was put on hold. After earning a walk-on spot at Michigan, Warren climbed the depth chart to become the Wolverines starting quarterback. In that time, he has not only been a dedicated teammate on the field, but off the field as well – to the children at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. His why, as he says, is to be an inspiration for the kids fighting the same battle he did. Jen Lada reports.
- The Aggie Bonfire – Twenty-five years ago at Texas A&M, tragedy struck one of college football’s most unique traditions – the Aggie Bonfire. In the early morning hours of Nov. 18, 1999, during the construction of the 59-foot tower, the structure collapsed and killed 12 Aggies from the Corps of Cadets. With the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry renewed, so too are the memories of those we lost. Ryan McGee reports.
- Rivalry Week – It’s about emotion, pride and bragging rights. One win that could save a season and one loss that could crush a fan base. From Farmageddon, to Egg, Palmetto and Iron Bowls, to a game so big it’s simply known as The Game, it’s Rivalry Week. Good old-fashioned hate that we all love to see. Ryan McGee reports.
ESPN’s Expansive Digital Coverage
ESPN’s social and digital pre-pregame show, Countdown to GameDay Presented by Dr Pepper, will be live from College Station with hosts Christine Williamson, Harry Douglas and Harry Lyles Jr., for the Rivalry Week stop. The show is available across ESPN on YouTube, Facebook and the ESPN App at 8:20 a.m. weekly.
-30-
Media Contact:
Julie McKay, ESPN Communications – Julie.McKay@espn.com, @McKay_Julie
-
-
-
-
-
