A Saturday institution since 1987, ESPN’s “College GameDay” has become a tradition ingrained within college football, a roving college football circus “Comin’ to your City” for three hours every game day morning, and it’s back for the 2024 college campaign.
The flagship show announced late last year that it will head overseas for the first time in Week 0, but where will it be when returning to US soil for the official opening weekend? Who will act as the guest picker in Week 1?
Here’s all the information on the College GameDay location and guest picker for Week 1 of the 2024 college football season.
ESPN College GameDay Location for Week 1
- Location
College Station, Texas - Matchup
Texas A&M vs. Notre Dame - Show time
9 a.m. ET - TV Channel
ESPN/ESPNU
Although the 2024 college football season feels like forever away, it’s only a few months until the sound of football fills our ears and hearts. And ESPN has announced that the College Gameday location for Week 1 will be College Station, Texas.
The flagship Saturday show will shake off the jet lag from their Week 0 trip across the pond and set up at Kyle Field as the Texas A&M Aggies welcome the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to College Station in a mouthwatering matchup that is arguably one of the biggest games on the college football Week 1 schedule.
The two teams haven’t met since 2001, and there have only been five previous clashes between Notre Dame and Texas A&M, with the Fighting Irish holding a slender 3-2 head-to-head advantage over the Aggies — despite a 24-3 win for the home team the last time the two programs met in College Station.
However, there’s a level of familiarity between the programs that goes beyond any prior history or previous encounters that fuel multiple storylines, further adding to the reasons for College Station to be selected as the “College Gameday” location in Week 1.
It’s a new era for Aggies football, with the Jimbo Fisher era coming to an abrupt and financially expensive end during the previous campaign. His replacement is Mike Elko, who returns to his former program as the head coach after a successful period transforming the Duke Blue Devils into a serious football contender.
The quarterback who helped bring about that most recent period of success, Riley Leonard, will suit up for the Fighting Irish this fall, replacing Sam Hartman under center for Notre Dame.
Elko and Leonard go from being the architects of each other’s success to bitter rivals in the space of months, and get to bring that to the fore on the opening weekend of the season.
It’s pure college football poetry, and the theatre in which this particular scene will play out is a fitting College GameDay location for Week 1.
KEEP READING: 2024 CFN Strength of Schedule
However, it isn’t the first time that College Station has been used as the College GameDay. The ESPN Saturday staple last visited the Aggies in September 2018, and the Week 1 edition will mark the 10th time that Texas A&M has appeared on the show. Unfortunately for the Aggies, they are 1-8 during that time.
As one of college football’s most revered programs, Notre Dame has made 36 previous appearances on College GameDay, with a 16-20 record while being the featured game on the ESPN flagship.
ESPN College GameDay Guest Picker for Week 1
More information on the College GameDay guest picker for the Week 1 clash between Texas A&M and Notre Dame will be included when the information is made publicly available. An announcement is made normally 2-3 days before the show.
List of 2024 College GameDay Guest Pickers:
- Week 0: To be confirmed
- Week 1: To be confirmed
College Football Network has you covered with the latest news and analysis, rankings, transfer portal information, top 10 returning players, the 2024 college football season schedule, and much more!