College GameDay’s first episode of the 2026 season will highlight two teams, while at the same time serving as an obvious showcase of one man.
ESPN’s venerable pregame show will originate from Baton Rouge, La., on Sept. 5, the show announced on Tuesday. The news was first reported by Pete Nakos of On3. LSU is scheduled to host Clemson that Saturday in a game that will serve as the LSU debut of coach Lane Kiffin.
Kiffin, 51, has not coached a game since Ole Miss’s final contest of the 2025 regular season—a 38–19 win over Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl on Nov. 28. The nature of his departure from the Rebels received widespread criticism, and seems likely to remain a hot topic deep into `26.
GameDay also announced that the show would be heading to Texas in the second week of the season for the Longhorns’ matchup against Ohio State—a rematch of the biggest marquee game of the opening week of the season last year.
THE FIRST TWO SHOWS OF THE 2026 CFB SEASON ARE SET‼️
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) May 12, 2026
📍 Week 1: Baton Rouge
📍 Week 2: Austin pic.twitter.com/wDF9dLE1Vr
Ohio State vs. Texas might be the game that more fans are looking forward to, but there’s no beating the character drama of Kiffin’s first game at the helm of the Tigers.
A look at LSU’s College GameDay history
If confirmed, this will be LSU’s 14th time hosting College GameDay, and its 37th time appearing on the show overall. The school’s first time on the show and first time hosting came on Nov. 9, 1996, when No. 11 LSU lost 28–0 to No. 10 Alabama. The school’s most recent turn on the show came on Nov. 9, 2024, when No. 15 LSU lost 42–13 to the No. 11 Crimson Tide at home. During that episode, gymnast Livvy Dunne and Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes served as the show’s celebrity guest pickers.
A look at Clemson’s College GameDay history
Clemson, on the other hand, will reportedly make its 31st appearance on the show since it first went on the road in 1993. The program’s first appearance actually did not come until 2006, when a No. 12 Clemson team hammered No. 13 Georgia Tech 31–7 at home. Coach Dabo Swinney’s squad most recently appeared on the show in 2022, when No. 5 Clemson defeated No. 10 NC State 30–20 on its home turf.
In 2025, College GameDay received some flak for its coverage of Lane Kiffin’s move from Ole Miss to LSU
Toward the end of Kiffin’s tenure with the Rebels, reports emerged that Kiffin was angling to continue to coach Ole Miss as he prepared to take the LSU job, a proposition widely regarded as preposterous given LSU and the Rebels’ status as conference rivals.
However, a few loud voices emerged in favor of Kiffin continuing—mostly from ESPN. Fans and observers quickly connected the dots between a number of the network’s pundits and Creative Artists Agency, Kiffin’s representation. Criticism of ESPN grew loud enough that the College GameDay crew felt compelled to address it on air, and while the conversation was a thoughtful one, it did little to launder Kiffin’s public image.
Kiffin has been the biggest newsmaker in the sport this offseason, and on Monday scandalized corners of the South with a glossy Vanity Fair profile that included the frank suggestion that Baton Rouge’s diversity made it easier to recruit there than in history-scarred Oxford, Miss.
ESPN will have no shortage of material to work with for this and future episodes involving LSU—and for better or for worse, both angry Ole Miss backers and fans given over to amateur media studies will be watching closely.
More College Football from Sports Illustrated
- SEC Coaches Have Lots of Thoughts on the Fine Art of Basket Weaving
- Projecting Every Big Ten Starting Quarterback Ahead of the 2026 College Football Season
- Why Tennis Is Becoming a Casualty of College Football and Basketball’s Insatiable Budget
- Atlantic Coast Conference Deep Dive | Others Receiving Votes
This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ Announces Destinations for Week 1 and Week 2.
