‘College GameDay’ opens 2026 with Clemson-LSU, followed by Ohio State-Texas

Photo by Allen Kee / ESPN Images

You’ll never believe this, but ESPN’s College GameDay is opening the 2026 college football season with back-to-back trips to SEC country.

You certainly can’t blame the show for picking Baton Rouge on Sept. 5, considering it will be Lane Kiffin’s first game as head coach of the LSU Tigers.

As our Sam Neumann noted earlier, while broadcast details have not been confirmed, it’s difficult to envision this not being a night game with Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit on the call for ABC. ESPN’s top announcing duo called last year’s Week 1 game in Clemson after spending the morning in Columbus for Lee Corso’s final show.

This will be GameDay’s first game back in Baton Rouge since November 9, 2024, for an Alabama-LSU rivalry showdown.

It’s worth noting that the Clemson-LSU game marks GameDay’s 500th show on the road in its 40-year history (33 of which have included on-site broadcasts). ESPN said in a release that additional details about that celebration will be shared.

The following week, GameDay will cover a familiar match as it descends on Austin, Texas, ahead of the rematch between Ohio State and Texas, kicking off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC. ESPN’s college football roadshow opened the 2025 season at that game last year, in which the Buckeyes throttled and the Longhorns. They’ll absolutely be looking for payback in this Sept. 12 showdown.