Matt Kupec: ESPN “Game Day” Host Site Surprises

by Matt Kupec

September 9, 2019

ESPN’s College Football Game Day is one of the great television programs!  Last year, “Game Day” celebrated its 25^th year anniversary of hosting a college football pre-game show on the college campus featuring one of the top college games of the week.  I wrote a blog to commemorate ESPN’s 25 years of “Game Day.”  https://medium.com/@mattkupec/matt-kupec-a-review-of-espns-game-day-football-sites-95c918094e33

“Game Day” has become a staple of the college football weekend!

This past weekend, “Game Day” was in Austin, TX to host the LSU vs. Texas battle featuring two top ten teams.  What I found amazing was that Austin, TX and the mighty Longhorns has not been host to “Game Day,” since 2009.  A ten-year drought!!  The last time Texas hosted “Game Day” was when my good friend Mack Brown was in his hey day as the Texas coach and Colt McCoy was playing his senior season of what was a remarkable career.

Since I was so shocked by the 10-year drought of Texas as “Game Day” host, I thought I’d take another look back at the “Game Day” host sites and give you some interesting tidbits:

• Surprising Absence from Last Hosting “Game Day”

Texas’ ten-year ESPN “Game Day” drought was shocking.  Other droughts from successful programs include:

• Florida (October 20, 2012)
• Oklahoma (October 27, 2012)
• Nebraska (September 10, 2007)

Most Games Hosted

The list of schools with the most games over ESPN’s “Game Day’s” 25 year-old history is not surprising as they represent the programs the have enjoyed great success over this period.  Tennessee, off to an 0-2 horrible start in 2019, may not be adding to their total in the near future:

Most Times “Game Day” Celebrity Pickers

Charles Barkley heads the list of celebrity pickers by a wide margin with 5 appearances.  The Auburn grad is an ESPN favorite for his celebrity and booming personality.  Bo Jackson made his second appearance this year before the Auburn vs. Oregon game that was broadcast from Fort Worth, Texas.