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by Matt Kupec

November 12, 2018

This past weekend ESPN’s College Football “Game Day” had a feature celebrating the 25th year of hosting the very popular pre-game college football show.  Originating from the site of one of the day’s best matchups, with a sea of fans cheering wildly in the background a host of announcers talk college football for three hours, reporting on the top teams, games, players and storylines.  The show finishes with the panel selecting their picks in a number of key games.

Watching that segment was entertaining and brought back so many memories of some of college football’s great games and stories over the last 25 years.

For me, it brought the memory of when ESPN’s “Game Day” traveled to Chapel Hill, NC on November 8, 1997 for the #2 Florida State vs. #5 UNC match-up of two unbeaten teams.  This would be UNC’s only time hosting “Game Day” on the UNC campus.  Unfortunately Florida State won 20-3 in a game that the Tar Heels really didn’t make much of a contest.  But in my 40 years of being associated with UNC football it was by far the greatest environment for a college football game in Chapel Hill.  Nothing has come close since then!

But what is it about “Game Day” that makes it so incredibly popular?  Why is it must see television for college football fans?  And what honor does it bring a program when “Game Day” announces it will be traveling to that campus to host its show?

For one, it is a huge honor to host “Game Day” on your campus.  When “Game Day” announces they are traveling to your campus to host its show  you know you have one most important game of the weekend.  “Game Day” brings great energy and excitement that ignites an entire community.  It validates your program and it becomes a bragging right and the talk of the town.  Just think about how good UCF feels today knowing that ESPN’s “Game Day” will be in Orlando next week to host its show on the UCF campus.  “Game Day’s” visit shows the importance of the University of Cincinnati vs. University of Central Florida football game.  UCF will feel like they have been crowned king of college football for a week!

What colleges have hosted the ESPN “Game Day” over the past twenty-five years?  I think we could all venture a pretty good guess about which programs have hosted the most shows but let’s take a deep dive and I’ll provide an in-depth analysis about the locations of ESPN’s “Game Day”:

GAME DAY HOSTS

  • “Game Day” Hosts by Conference School – this chart shows the # of games hosted by Power 5 Conference members. Here we look at the number of times ESPN’s Game Day has traveled to the various college campuses to host its show.   We look at the Power 5 Conferences only.  For games at neutral sites, the home team is credited with hosting Game Day.  Notre Dame has hosted Game Day nine times but is not included in the chart because they remain an independent in football:
SEC ACC Big Ten Pac 12 Big 12
School # School # School # School # School #
Alabama 13 Florida St. 11 Ohio St. 17 Oregon 10 Oklahoma 7
Florida 12 Miami 7 Michigan 12 USC 10 Texas 6
LSU 12 Virginia Tech 6 Wisconsin 8 Utah 4 Okla. St. 6
Tennessee 9 Clemson 5 Penn St. 6 Colorado 3 TCU 3
Auburn 9 Boston College 3 Mich. St. 6 Washington 2 Kansas St. 2
South Carolina 7 Georgia Tech 2 Nebraska 6 Arizona 2 W. Virginia 2
Texas A&M 6 Louisville 2 Iowa 2 Arizona St. 1 Baylor 2
Georgia 3 Pittsburgh 2 Northwestern 2 Oregon St. 1 Texas Tech 1
Missouri 1 UNC 1 Purdue 1 Stanford 1 Iowa St. 0
Ole Miss 1 NC State 1 Indiana 1 UCLA 1 Kansas 0
Arkansas 1 Duke 0 Illinois 0 Wash. St. 1    
Miss. St. 1 Syracuse -0 Minnesota 0 California 0    
Kentucky 1 Virginia 0            
Vanderbilt 1 Wake Forest 0            
   Total 77    Total 40    Total 61    Total 36    Total 29

  • Most “Game Days” Hosted by School. This chart looks at the colleges who lead in the number of games hosted on their campuses.
Hosted Most Game Days
Rank School # Conference
1 Ohio State 17 Big Ten
2 Alabama 13 SEC
T3 Michigan 12 Big Ten
T3 Florida 12 SEC
T3 LSU 12 SEC
6 Florida State 11 ACC
T7 Oregon 10 Pac-12
T7 USC 10 Pac-12
T9 Tennessee 9 SEC
T10 Auburn 9 SEC
T10 Wisconsin 8 Big Ten
T12 Miami 7 ACC
T12 Oklahoma 7 Big 12
T12 South Carolina 7 SEC
T15 Michigan St. 6 Big Ten
T15 Nebraska 6 Big Ten
T15 Oklahoma St. 6 Big 12
T15 Penn State 6 Big Ten
T15 Texas 6 Big 12
T15 Texas A&M 6 SEC
T15 Virginia Tech 6 ACC
  1. GAME DAYS PLAYED IN

 

  • ” Game Day” Games Played In. This chart looks at the total number of times colleges have played in the game where Game Day is announcing from.  They may not be the host but they may have been the opponent.  Georgia is a great example.  Georgia, surprisingly, has only hosted 3 Game Day visits to Athens but Georgia has played in a total of 20 games where Game Day was hosting, meaning that 17 times Georgia was the road team.
SEC ACC Big Ten Pac 12 Big 12
School # School # School # School # School #
Alabama 43 Florida St. 34 Ohio St. 42 Oregon 24 Oklahoma 35
Florida 38 Miami 20 Michigan 29 USC 24 Texas 16
LSU 28 Clemson 19 Penn St. 19 Stanford 11 Okla. St. 8
Tennessee 21 Virginia Tech 14 Wisconsin 17 UCLA 8 TCU 7
Georgia 20 Georgia Tech 4 Nebraska 16 Washington 6 Kansas St. 6
Auburn 18 Louisville 4 Michigan St. 14 Colorado 6 W. Virginia 4
South Carolina 8 Boston College 3 Iowa 7 Utah 5 Texas Tech 4
Texas A&M 8 Pittsburgh 2 Northwestern 3 Oregon St. 3 Baylor 3
Missouri 6 UNC 2 Purdue 3 Arizona 3 Kansas 1
Ole Miss 3 Syracuse 2 Illinois 2 Arizona St 3 Iowa St. 0
Arkansas 2 NC State 1 Indiana 1 Wash. St. 3    
Miss. St. 1 Syracuse   Minnesota 0 California 3    
Kentucky 1 Virginia              
Vanderbilt 1 Wake Forest              
   Total 199    Total 105    Total 153    Total 99    Total 84

 

  • Most “Game Days” Played in By Schoo This chart looks at the schools with the highest number of games played on “Game Day” visits.  Alabama has participated in the most with 43 games.
Hosted Most Game Days
Rank School # Conference
1 Alabama 43 SEC
2 Ohio St. 42 Big Ten
3 Florida 38 SEC
4 Oklahoma 35 Big 12
5 Florida St. 34 ACC
6 Michigan 29 Big Ten
7 LSU 28 SEC
8 Oregon 24 Pac-12
T8 USC 24 Pac-12
10 Tennessee 21 SEC
T11 Georgia 20 SEC
T11 Miami 20 ACC
T13 Clemson 19 ACC
T13 Penn State 19 Big Ten
15 Auburn 18 SEC
16 Wisconsin 17 Big Ten
T17 Nebraska 16 Big Ten
T17 Texas 16 Big 12
T19 Michigan St. 14 Big Ten
T19 Virginia Tech 14 ACC

 

  • Best and Worst “Game Day” Records (played in at least 5 games). This chart looks at the best and lowest percentages of those who have played in at least 5 Game Day games.
Highest Winning Percentage in “Game Day” Games   Lowest Winning Percentage in “Game Day” Games
School # Games Record %   Rank School # Games Record %
TCU 7 6-1 .857   1 Texas A&M 8 1-7 .125
USC 24 18-6 .750   2 Oklahoma St. 8 1-7 .125
Ohio St. 42 29-13 .690   3 Iowa 7 1-6 .143
Oklahoma 35 23-12 .657   4 Kansas St. 6 1-5 .167
Alabama 43 28-15 .651   5 Virginia Tech 14 4-10 .286
Miami 20 13-7 .650   6 Georgia 20 6-14 .300
Florida St. 38 24-14 .632   7 Wisconsin 17 6-11 .353
Clemson 19 12-7 .632   8 Penn State 19 7-12 .368
Texas 16 10-6 .625   T9 UCLA 8 3-5 .375
LSU 28 16-12 .571   T9 South Carolina 8 3-5 .375

 

Most Covered “Game Day” Games

Match-Up # Times Hosted
Alabama vs. LSU 9
Ohio St. vs. Penn St. 8
Michigan vs. Notre Dame 7
Florida St. vs. Miami 7
Texas vs. Oklahoma 6
Alabama vs. Auburn 6
Florida St. vs. Florida 6
Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma St. 6
Florida vs. Tennessee 6
Michigan vs. Ohio St. 5

 

  1. Final ESPN “Game Day Facts

 

  • The first “Game Day” broadcast was on November 13, 1993 with #1 Florida State vs. #2 Notre Dame from South Bend, IN.  Notre Dame wins the game 31-24.
  • Notre Dame has participated in the following:
    • # Games – 29
    • # Hosted Games – 9
    • Overall Record – 13 wins, 16 losses, .448 winning percentage.
  • September 15, 2001 broadcast was cancelled due to September 11, 2001 attacks.
  • Philadelphia, PA will be the site of the Army vs. Navy game which represents the 5th time “Game Day” has been hosted for the classic Army vs. Navy match-up.
  • Army hosted “Game Day” in West Point in 2003 for a game vs. South Florida.
  • Navy has never hosted a “Game Day” in Annapolis, MD.
  • Navy’s gave vs. Troy was hosted by “Game Day” from the deck of the USS San Diego on November 10, 2012.
  • Air Force has hosted “Game Day” twice in Colorado Springs, CO in games against Army.