It’s official. ESPN College GameDay is coming to Notre Dame next weekend for the top-10 showdown between Notre Dame and Ohio State. It will mark the 35th time that Notre Dame has appeared on College GameDay since being the host for the very first on-campus show back in 1993 for the “Game of Century” between #1 Florida State an #2 Notre Dame.
With both Notre Dame and Ohio State winning today, the matchup is guaranteed to featured two top-10 teams for the second year in a row. ESPN was on hand for last year’s showdown in Columbus as well – a 21-10 Notre Dame loss at the hands of the 2nd ranked Buckeyes in the first regular season game of the Marcus Freeman era.
While Notre Dame has been on GameDay 35 times now, this will be just the 10th time that ESPN has come to Notre Dame’s campus. The most recent came in 2020 when Notre Dame beat #1 ranked Clemson in overtime and the time before that was Notre Dame’s 2018 victory over Michigan. Notre Dame’s won its last three games featured on the show dating back to the 2012 thriller over Stanford. The last time ESPN was in town and the Irish lost was 2005 for the Bush Push.
There was already bound to be a lot of hype for this one this week, but ESPN coming to town only adds to it – especially with the slate of games on Saturday. #3 Florida State travels to Clemson. #18 Colorado travels to #13 Oregon. #17 Ole Miss takes on #10 Alabama. And #25 Iowa takes on #7 Penn State.
Notre Dame and Ohio State will close down the night next week though, and they’ll do so with the entire ESPN crew in town.
Hooray! The newly revamped “Deion Sanders Ball Licking Show” is coming to South Bend!
Free cowboy hats and sunglasses for everyone.