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ESPN College GameDay's Kirk Herbstreit Names Oregon Ducks' Campus His 'Favorite'

The Oregon Ducks host the Ohio State Buckeyes in a top-3 matchup on Saturday night, and ESPN College GameDay will be in Eugene for the game. GameDay panelist Kirk Herbstreit called Oregon his favorite place to bring the beloved pregame show.

Cory Pappas

The Duck mascot pokes fun at Lee Corso's and Kirk Herbstreit's hair during taping of ESPN's Game Day in 2010.
The Duck mascot pokes fun at Lee Corso's and Kirk Herbstreit's hair during taping of ESPN's Game Day in 2010. / Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK
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The Oregon Ducks and Ohio State Buckeyes meet in massive showdown Saturday night at Autzen Stadium. The No. 3 ranked Ducks and No. 2 ranked Buckeyes are each 5-0 with their sights set on a National Championship this season. 

ESPN’s College GameDay with Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Pat McAfee, Desmond Howard, and potentially Lee Corso will be in Eugene for their show starting at 6 a.m. PT. 

For decades now, the show has traveled across the nation, going to different campuses and stadiums. Kirk Herbstreit has said that Eugene is his favorite place in the land to come for a show.

Kirk Herbstreit: Oregon is the “Best Crowd” 

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit has been to a ton of college campuses across the country since he began working for Gameday in 1996. In the past, Herbstreit said he's been asked what is his favorite place for the show to go to, and Eugene, Oregon, is his answer.

“We come all over the country, we get asked all the time, 'Where’s your favorite to take College GameDay?'" Herbstreit said. “I say every time, Eugene, Oregon.”

The Oregon Ducks have appeared on College GameDay 30 times and have hosted it 11 times before Saturday’s matchup vs. Ohio State. This will mark their 12th time hosting it, the sixth most of any school in the country. It may be a 6 a.m. local start time for the Oregon fans in attendance at the show, but it’s still packed and rowdy.

“This (Oregon crowd) is the best crowd, it’s 6 a.m. in the morning. It’s dark, it’s raining, they don’t care,” Herbstreit said. “These fans right here, pound for pound are as good as any college football fans in the country.”

Oregon Ducks History Hosting College GameDay

Game Day's Lee Corso, right, and the Oregon Duck hug as fans cheer at the climatic end of the show taped in the parking lot b
Game Day's Lee Corso, right, and the Oregon Duck hug as fans cheer at the climatic end of the show taped in the parking lot before the Oregon vs. Stanford game at Autzen Stadium in 2010. / Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Oregon Ducks will be hosting college gameday for the 12th time on Saturday morning in the lead-up to their mashup vs. the No. 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. It will be the first top-5 matchup in Autzen Stadium, let alone a top-3 matchup.

The Ducks are 8-3 when hosting ESPN’s College GameDay. The most recent time GameDay was in town was in 2022 when Oregon beat UCLA. The time before that was in 2018 when Oregon lost a heartbreaking game in overtime to Stanford. 

Overall, the 8-3 mark bodes well for Oregon. Saturday has the potential to be the greatest crowd in the history of Autzen stadium.

College GameDay starts at 6 a.m. PT on ESPN, live from campus. The game will kick off at 4:30 pm PST on NBC. Buckle up.

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Cory Pappas
CORY PAPPAS

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