Which college football towns will host ESPN’s College GameDay crew in 2020? Here’s a projection for each location for the 2020 season.
There are few college football traditions better than having ESPN College GameDay rolling live from a campus set to home the day’s biggest game.
If the GameDay crew is able to travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic this fall, there will be hundreds of marquee matchups for them to pick and choose from as they look to bring rowdy crowds on air.
While several of the hosts may be predictable, such as Tuscaloosa, Clemson and Eugene, there are many programs that may be vying to host the historic show that either have never had the crew on campus or have not for several years.
With 13 weeks of regular season action, here’s a look at where the crew may set up shop in during the 2020 season.
Week 1: USC vs. Alabama in Arlington, Texas (Sept. 5)
With several ‘cupcake’ games for college football powerhouses to open the season, a clash between USC and Alabama at AT&T Stadium in Dallas will be the main event to open the 2020 season.
The two-storied programs met on the same field to open the 2016 season where Alabama ran over the Trojans with a 52-6 victory to begin a run to the national championship game.
Entering 2020, USC will be looking to get back atop the Pac-12 after an 8-5 season in 2019 while the Tide will be looking to respond after failing to make the College Football Playoff last season for the first time since the playoff era began in 2014.
Nick Saban’s squad will likely be heavy favorites given USC’s struggles in recent seasons, but with a promising young quarterback in Kedon Slovis under center, the Trojans will likely make it much more of a fight than they did back in 2016.
Runner-up: Notre Dame at Navy, Location TBA
Week 2: Ohio State at Oregon (Sept. 12)
A clash of conference champions will be college football’s main event in Week 2 when the Ohio State Buckeyes travel west to take on the Oregon Ducks.
The matchup will be the first between the two schools’ since they met in the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship game when the Buckeyes knocked off the Ducks in Dallas to win the national title.
Last season, Ohio State made it back to the postseason after an undefeated regular season but fell to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl. Oregon won the Pac-12 title but missed out on the playoff due to having two regular season losses. They instead settled for the Rose Bowl, where they knocked off Wisconsin by one point.
The 2020 rematch, will likely see the Buckeyes favored with Oregon looking for answers at quarterback as Justin Herbert is now in the NFL, but should still be a dandy in Eugene.
Runner-up: Tennessee at Oklahoma
Week 3: Georgia at Alabama (Sept. 19)
There’s almost no doubt College GameDay will head for Tuscaloosa for a rematch of both the epic 2018 National Championship Game between SEC powerhouses Alabama and Georgia.
The 2020 meeting will mark the first matchup between the Tide and Bulldogs since the 2018 SEC Championship Game when Alabama came back to knock off the Bulldogs by a touchdown. The two teams have not met in the regular season since October of 2015 when the Crimson Tide blew out Georgia 38-10 en route to a national title.
Both programs are again favored to win their respective divisions and could play in a game that’s an SEC East preview and a turning point of the 2020 season to see which program seems to be the best heading into the conference slate.
Runner-up: Auburn at Ole Miss
Week 4: Virginia at Clemson (Sept. 26)
In what is a relatively light Week 4 slate, the College GameDay crew has the perfect excuse to pay a trip to Death Valley and Clemson for their 2019 ACC Championship Game rematch with the Virginia Cavaliers.
The 2020 battle will mark the first regular-season game between the two programs since 2013 when Clemson cruised to a 59-10 win in Charlottesville.
Virginia won’t have Bryce Perkins returning under center but still, have much of the talent that guided them to a division crown a year ago and head coach Bronco Mendenhall is motivated to keep his program as a yearly contender in the ACC.
Clemson will be looking for a second straight perfect regular season. The Tigers have not lost an ACC game since 2017 and haven’t lost to Virginia since 2004.
Runner-up: Utah at California
Week 5: Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame in Green Bay (Oct. 3)
The first Saturday of October will feature a good one as the Wisconsin Badgers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish battle at historic Lambeau Field in a neutral sight clash.
Wisconsin is coming off yet another Big Ten West division title and Rose Bowl trip while the Irish posted a second straight 11-win season and will be looking for a second trip to the playoff in three years.
The meeting will mark the first since 1964 between the two programs as all-time Notre Dame leads the series 8-6-2.
With both teams contenders for the College Football Playoff, the winner will gain an important resume boost as the game will not be an easy task for either side. Thus, expect College GameDay to be in Green Bay to kickoff the second month of the season.
Runner-up: Penn State at Michigan
Week 6: Texas vs. Oklahoma in Dallas (Oct. 10)
There are few yearly matchups better than the Red River Showdown between the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners.
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On Oct. 10, the Sooners and Longhorns where again square off at the Cotton Bowl, where despite Oklahoma being the five-time defending Big 12 champions, the matchups have been fairly evenly-matched the last few seasons.
The Sooners have won the previous two matchups, including the 2018 Big 12 title game, but Texas knocked off eventual Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray during the 2018 regular season matchup and Baker Mayfield in 2015.
Oklahoma will again be favorites to win the conference in 2020, but the Longhorns are expected to have their best roster in several seasons and will be playing for head coach Tom Herrman’s job. Thus, it should be a dandy down in the Lone Star State.
Runner-up: LSU at Florida
Week 7: Michigan at Minnesota (Oct. 17)
Few stories were better in college football last season than the Minnesota Golden Gophers. PJ Fleck’s squad posted an 11-2 season that saw them come within one game of a Big Ten West title, knock off then ranked No. 4 Penn State and beat SEC powerhouse Auburn in the Outback Bowl.
With another loaded roster set to return to Minneapolis, they’ll again have a chance at a division title, and to get there will need to pick up some upset victories. They’ll have a chance to just that on Oct. 17 when the Michigan Wolverines pull into town.
Michigan has won at least nine games in each of the past five seasons but has yet to win a Big Ten East title, but head coach Jim Harbaugh believes this year’s team has national title aspirations.
If both teams come in with division hopes still alive, it’ll be a no brainer for the GameDay crew to return to the Twin Cities for a second straight year.
Runner-up: Washington at Utah
Week 8: Ohio State at Penn State (Oct. 24)
In what will likely be Penn State‘s white out game, no place in America will be louder than State College when the Ohio State Buckeyes pay a visit for a Week 8 clash.
The Buckeyes are coming off yet another Big Ten title and a perfect regular season that earned them a trip to the playoff. Penn State put together an 11-2 campaign in 2019 and won the Cotton Bowl over Memphis.
Ohio State has won each of three previous matchups between the division rivals, but no team in the history of the rivalry has a longer winning streak than four. Thus, the Buckeyes will either tie history or see it repeat itself.
This game may send the winner to Indianapolis in December, with the two teams likely to finish atop the Big Ten East.
Runner-up: Oklahoma State at Oklahoma
Week 9: Florida vs. Georgia in Jacksonville, Fla. (Oct. 31)
While programs such as Kentucky and Tennessee may have a say about it, the SEC East will likely come down to the Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs.
The Dawgs have won the division the past three seasons but lost nearly their entire starting offense from the past three seasons and will have limited practice time due to the pandemic to gain chemistry this offseason.
As for Florida, Dan Mullen has the program surging as he’s produced both a Peach Bowl and Orange Bowl victory in his first two seasons taking over a Gators program that went 4-8 the season before his arrival.
When the two teams square off for their yearly battle in Jacksonville it may very well end up being another SEC East title game.
Runner-up: Baylor at Texas
Week 10: Alabama at LSU (Nov. 7)
It doesn’t get much better than Alabama and LSU square off in November. In 2020, the Tide will avenge a home loss for the eventual champion Tigers by pulling off a victory in Death Valley.
Last season, Alabama missed out on the top-four cut for the first time in the College Football Playoff era. LSU was much to blame not only because they knocked off the Tide but because they put together an undefeated season and stole the SEC West.
However, LSU lost 14 players, including Heisman Trophy winner and quarterback Joe Burrow in the 2020 NFL Draft while Alabama brings back one of their most experienced teams in recent history.
Thus, expect a heck of a battle down south that College GameDay wouldn’t miss.
Runner-up: Clemson at Notre Dame
Week 11: Pittsburgh at North Carolina (Nov. 11)
With not all too much excitement on the schedule for Week 11, College GameDay has a chance to visit a location they have not visited since 1997: Chapel Hill home of the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Mack Brown has something special brewing in Chapel Hill and one of the nation’s top quarterbacks in Sam Howell, which may make them one of the favorites in the ACC Coastal. One of the teams looking to stop them will be the Pittsburgh Panthers, who won the division in 2018 and last season put together an 8-5 campaign that included a bowl victory.
Thus, there’s a chance this Week 11 showdown will be a division title game with the winner punching their ticket for Charlotte. If so, College GameDay should be in Chapel Hill.
Runner-up: Tennessee at Georgia
Week 12: Cincinnati at UCF (Nov. 21)
With many Power Five programs playing their late-season “cupcake” game in Week 12, the College GameDay crew has the perfect excuse to give the American Athletic Conference some love by traveling to Orlando for what will likely be a division title game.
Last season the Cincinnati Bearcats ended UCF’s run atop the AAC East with a home victory. 2019 also marked the Knights’ first imperfect regular season in two seasons, but they still finished 10-3.
Cincinnati and UCF are again expected to be the two favorites to win the East and also likely to win the conference with defending conference champion Memphis having lost head coach Mike Norvell to Florida State and much of their 2019 production to the NFL.
Thus, there’s a good chance the winner of this late-season clash could go onto win the AAC and potentially earn a trip to a New Year’s Six Bowl. GameDay would be crazy to miss that.
Runner-up: LSU at Auburn
Week 13: Auburn at Alabama (Nov. 28)
There’s no better rivalry in college football than the Iron Bowl and even though Alabama will have plenty of face time on College GameDay, it’s hard to see them skipping out on this one.
With LSU having lost 14 starters to the NFL, Auburn has a chance to be Alabama’s main challenger in the SEC West. The Tigers took down the Tide last November to knock their rivals out of the postseason but did not win in Tuscaloosa since Cam Newton led a 24-point comeback in 2010.
If Auburn can stay within a game of Alabama, there’s a chance the winner of the 2020 Iron Bowl will represent the SEC West in Atlanta for the conference title game. College GameDay will be in Tuscaloosa without hesitation if that happens.
Runner-up: Michigan at Ohio State