Indiana To Be Part Of Another ESPN College GameDay Show

ESPN College GameDay will be at Friday’s College Football Playoff game between Indiana and Notre Dame.

Hosts Lee Corso, at left, and Kirk Herbstreit talk during the ESPN College GameDay show on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, on the Hesburgh Library lawn on the University of Notre Dame campus in South Bend. The show was to highlight the Notre Dame-Ohio State game. / GREG SWIERCZ / USA TODAY NETWORK

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – After rarely crossing paths for decades, Indiana football and the ESPN College GameDay show have become familiar acquaintances during the 2024 season.

Indiana will once again be one of the participants for a College GameDay broadcast. ESPN will host a special version of College GameDay starting at 3:30 p.m. ET on Friday on Notre Dame’s campus. The show will take place on the library quad in front of the iconic “The Word Of Life” mural, far better known as Touchdown Jesus.

For the Hoosiers, it will be the third straight month it will be a part of a College GameDay experience. The long-running show visited Bloomington on Oct. 26 when the Hoosiers hosted Washington. The Hoosiers visited Ohio State on Nov. 23, and College GameDay was in Columbus for the occasion.

GameDay will go to Columbus again as part of a weekend doubleheader for the show. ESPN GameDay will be live from Ohio State at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday. Ohio State hosts Tennessee in a College Football Playoff contest later Saturday as part of a College Football Playoff tripleheader.

The GameDay show was naturally very Indiana-centric when the show was in Bloomington on Oct. 26. Lee Corso, Indiana’s coach from 1973-82, and a pundit on GameDay from the show’s inception in 1987, was prominently featured in the Indiana broadcast.

Another pundit on the show, former Indianapolis Colts punter and ESPN podcast host Pat McAfee, has been vocal in his support for Indiana coach Curt Cignetti.

Cignetti made in-person appearances on both broadcasts. He appeared on the set in Bloomington and was filmed on the field at Ohio State.

For Notre Dame, it’s the first time the show has visited South Bend since the Fighting Irish hosted Ohio State on Sept. 23, 2023. It will be the 12th time Notre Dame has hosted the program.

Notre Dame holds a special place in College GameDay lore, as Notre Dame was the first-ever host of the show. A studio show in its early days, College GameDay went on the road for the 1993 pairing of No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 2 Notre Dame in November 1993.

Starting with the 1994 season, College GameDay became a road show and has become a phenomenon in the college football world. It is now a part of the general college football tapestry.

The show is hosted by Rece Davis. In addition to Corso and McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, Jen Lada, Jess Sims, Pete Thamel and Steve Coughlin also appear on the show.

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• BRAND NAME BIAS: Despite being a close game on-paper, Todd Golden writes about the benefit of the doubt Notre Dame gets for being a national brand. CLICK HERE.

• NOTRE DAME DEFENSE IS STOUT: In a case of strength vs. strength, Indiana's potent offense takes on a stingy Notre Dame defense. CLICK HERE.

• INDIANA DEFENSE WANTS RILEY LEONARD TO 'PAY A TOLL': Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard is a centerpiece of the Fighting Irish. Indiana is focused on stopping him. CLICK HERE.

• HOW DOES INDIANA STACK UP? How the Hoosiers stack up statistically against the rest of the College Football Playoff field. CLICK HERE.

• WHAT CIGNETTI SAID: What Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti said during his pre-Notre Dame press conference on Monday. CLICK HERE.

• FREEMAN HAS PRAISE FOR INDIANA: Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman was complimentary of what Indiana has accomplished this season. CLICK HERE.