College GameDay's First Two Destinations of 2026 Appear To Be Set
ESPN's "College GameDay" has yet to officially announce where it will be heading early in the 2026 college football season. But, after Tuesday's report from On3, we appear to know where the show will be headed, for both Week 1 and Week 2.
On3's Pete Nakos reported on Tuesday that ESPN's college football pregame show, which features Rece Davis, Pat McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Nick Saban, will be heading to the Clemson vs. LSU game. The two Tigers are set to face off in a major Week 1 showdown. The game will take place at LSU - it'll be Lane Kiffin's first game as the Baton Rouge program's head coach.
Clemson and LSU are both expected to open the season as Top 10 teams. Without another premier non-conference game on the schedule for Week 1, this was the easy choice, On3's Ari Wasserman points out.
"Exciting, but there's also legit no other option," he said.
With Week 1 reportedly set, it's time to look ahead to Week 2. And we can assume, with close to 100 percent certainty, that ESPN's "College GameDay" already knows where it will be heading for its Saturday, Sept. 12 show.
Austin, Texas.
ESPN's college football pregame show will almost certainly be heading to Austin, Texas for the Week 2 game between Ohio State and Texas. The Longhorns could open the season at No. 1 overall. Led by Arch Manning, Texas is expected to be a serious national title contender. Texas is No. 5 in ESPN's latest preseason Top 25 poll for 2026. Ohio State, meanwhile, is No. 1.
"College GameDay" isn't going to miss a game featuring Arch Manning, Jeremiah Smith, Ryan Day, Steve Sarkisian, Ohio State and Texas.
It's just not happening.
Where could College GameDay head for Week 3?
With ESPN's "College GameDay" appearing to know where it's heading for the first two weeks of the season, where could it go in Week 3?
- Week 1: LSU vs. Clemson
- Week 2: Texas vs. Ohio State
- Week 3: ???
Week 3 of the 2026 college football regular season will feature some big games, too. Alabama is playing Florida State, Ole Miss is facing LSU, Auburn is playing Florida.
The choice for Week 3 seems easy, too.
Ole Miss, hosting former head coach Lane Kiffin, will be absolutely must-watch. Unless the Rebels completely fall on their faces in Week 1 and Week 2, that should be the pick for ESPN's "College GameDay."
Kiffin recently stoked the fire among Ole Miss' fan base, too. He said that part of the reason why he left Ole Miss for LSU is because of Louisiana's culture compared to that of Mississippi's.
The LSU Tigers head coach told Vanity Fair that when he was coaching at Ole Miss, he would have recruits tell him:
"Hey, coach, we really like you. But my grandparents aren't letting me move to Oxford, Mississippi," Kiffin said.
"That doesn't come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Parents were sitting here this weekend saying the campus' diversity feels so great: ‘It feels like there's no segregation. And we want that for our kid because that's the real world.'"
Ole Miss fans, understandably, aren't taking that very well.
It should be quite the atmosphere in Week 3.
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This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 9:39 AM.