College Football: The 25 Most Frequent ESPN College Football GameDay Locations

Though ESPN has been producing College Football Game Day since 1987, the show didn’t hit the road in search of the biggest game of the week until 1993.

The first ever Game Day road trip came when the crew travelled to the Notre Dame campus in South Bend Indiana to cover the Florida State Seminoles taking on the Fighting Irish on November 13—a game which Notre Dame won 31-24.

The following slideshow highlights the 25 most frequently travelled to destinations for what has become a Saturday morning institution during college football season.

As an interesting side note, the record for the most covered matchup by ESPN College Game Day is Florida versus Florida State which has been attended eight times by the program.

25. Oklahoma State

Stillwater, Oklahoma is tied with Colorado and Air Force with three ESPN Game Day visits each; every one of the Cowboys on campus events has come in celebration of a game with their in-state rivals the Oklahoma Sooners.

October 30, 2004              No. 2 Oklahoma at No. 20 Oklahoma State (Sooners won 38-35)

November 29, 2008         No. 3 Oklahoma at No. 11 Oklahoma State (Sooners won 61-41)

November 26, 2010         No. 13 Oklahoma at No. 8 Oklahoma State (Sooners won 47-41)

24. Colorado

Boulder, Colorado is tied with Oklahoma State and Air Force with three Game Day whistle stops; the Buffaloes haven’t hosted ESPN on campus (in a football capacity) since 1996.

September 23, 1995        No. 3 Texas A&M at No. 7 Colorado (Colorado won 29-21)

October 28, 1995            No. 2 Nebraska at No. 7 Colorado (Nebraska won 44-21)

September 24, 1996        No. 10 Michigan at No. 5 Colorado (Michigan won 20-13)

23. Air Force

A bit of a surprising (at least to me) member of the top 25 is Colorado Springs, Colorado, home of the Air Force Academy.

November 3, 2001           Army at Air Force (Air Force won 34-24)

October 19, 2002            No. 8 Notre Dame at No. 21 Air Force (Notre Dame won 21-14)

November 7, 2009           Army at Air Force (Air Force won 35-7)

22. Penn State

The Nittany Lions have welcomed the Game Day crew at the airport four times which ties them all time with beautiful East Lansing, Michigan.

August 28, 1999                No. 3 Arizona at No. 4 Penn State (Penn State won 41-7)

October 8, 2005                No. 6 Ohio State at No. 16 Penn State (Penn State won 17-10)

October 27, 2007              No. 1 Ohio State at No. 25 Penn State (Ohio State won 37-17)

September 26, 2009          Iowa at No. 5 Penn State (Iowa won 21-10)

21. Michigan State

East Lansing has played host to Saturday morning’s best program four times (tying them with Happy Valley).

October 25, 1997              No. 5 Michigan at No. 14 Michigan State (Michigan won 23-7)

October 9, 1999                No. 3 Michigan at No. 11 Michigan State (Michigan State won 34-31)

September 18, 2004          Notre Dame at Michigan State (Notre Dame won 31-24)

*The September 18 matchup in 2004 was supposed to be LSU at Auburn but was changed because of Hurricane Ivan*

November 19, 2005            No. 5 Penn State at Michigan State (Penn State won 31-22)

20. Tempe/Glendale, Arizona

The Phoenix area has been the temporary home of the ESPN Game Day bus on five different occasions—three Fiesta Bowls and twice prior to the BCS National Title game.

The mark of five ties Phoenix with Auburn, South Carolina, New Orleans and Oregon.

January 2, 1996                 No. 2 Florida vs. No. 1 Nebraska, the Fiesta Bowl (Nebraska won 62-24)

January 4, 1999                 No. 1 Tennessee vs. No. 2 Florida State, the Fiesta Bowl (Tenn won 23-16)

January 3, 2003                 No. 1 Miami vs. No. 2 Ohio State, the Fiesta Bowl (Ohio State won 31-24)

January 8, 2007                 No. 2 Florida vs. No. 1 Ohio State, BCS National Championship (FLwon 41-14)

January 10, 2011               No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 1 Auburn, BCS National Championship (Oregon won 22-19)

19. South Carolina

The Gamecocks have been on the receiving end of the Game Day bus five times, and three of those Saturday’s South Carolina was not even ranked.

November 10, 2001         No. 3 Florida at No. 15 South Carolina (Florida won 54-17)

September 11, 2004        No. 3 Georgia at South Carolina (Georgia won 20-16)

September 1, 2005          Central Florida at South Carolina (SC won 24-15)

October 28, 2006             No. 8 Tennessee at South Carolina (Tennessee won 31-24)

October 9, 2010               No. 1 Alabama at No. 19 South Carolina (SC won 35-21)

18. Oregon

Game Day has visited Eugene a whopping five times, all for Pac-10 matchups. The five trip bar ties the Ducks with the Phoenix area, South Carolina, New Orleans and Auburn.

September 23, 2000        No. 8 UCLA at Oregon (Oregon won 29-10)

September 29, 2007        No. 6 California at No. 11 Oregon (Cal won 31-24)

November 3, 2007           No. 4 Arizona State at No. 5 Oregon (Oregon won 35-23)

October 31, 2009              No. 5 USC at No. 10 Oregon (Oregon won 47-20)

October 2, 2010                No. 9 Stanford at No. 4 Oregon (Oregon won 52-31)

17. New Orleans

The “Big Easy” has had the crew in town five times, four times for the playing of the Sugar Bowl and then once, in 2007-08, for the BCS title game.

January 2, 1997                 No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 3 Florida, the Sugar Bowl (Florida won 52-20)

January 4, 2000                 No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 2 Virginia Tech, the Sugar Bowl (FSU won 46-29)

January 4, 2004                 No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 2 LSU, the Sugar Bowl (LSU won 21-14)

January 7, 2008                 No. 2 LSU vs. No. 1 Ohio State, BCS National Championship (LSU won 38-24)

January 4, 2011                 No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 8 Arkansas, the Sugar Bowl (OSU won 31-26)

16. Auburn

The defending national champs have hosted the best on campus show five times, tying them with New Orleans, Phoenix, South Carolina and Oregon.

November 18, 1995         No. 17 Alabama at No. 21 Auburn (Auburn won 31-27)

October 18, 1997            No. 6 Florida at No. 7 Auburn (Florida won 24-10)

November 13, 2004         No. 5 Georgia at No. 3 Auburn (Auburn won 24-6)

September 20, 2008        No. 6 LSU at No. 9 Auburn (LSU won 26-21)

September 18, 2010        Clemson at No. 16 Auburn (Auburn won 27-24)

15. Atlanta, Georgia

The city of Atlanta has provided a temporary venue for the Game Day set on six separate occasions—three times for SEC Championships and three times for early season non-conference blockbusters.

December 4, 2004            No. 3 Auburn vs. No. 15 Tennessee, SEC Championship (Auburn won 38-28)

August 30, 2008               No. 24 Alabama vs. No. 9 Clemson (Alabama won 34-10)

December 6, 2008            No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Florida, SEC Championship (Florida won 31-20)

September 5, 2009           No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 7 Virginia Tech (Alabama won 24-24)

December 5, 2009            No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 1 Florida, SEC Championship (Alabama won 32-13)

September 4, 2010           No. 21 LSU vs. No. 18 North Carolina (LSU won 30-24)

14. Oklahoma

The campus nestled in Norman, Oklahoma has greeted the Game Day bus an impressive six times.

September 30, 1995        No. 4 Colorado at No. 10 Oklahoma (Colorado won 38-17)

October 28, 2000            No. 1 Nebraska at No. 3 Oklahoma (Oklahoma won 31-14)

September 29, 2001        No. 9 Kansas State at No. 3 Oklahoma (Oklahoma won 38-37)

November 1, 2003           No. 14 Oklahoma State at No. 1 Oklahoma (Oklahoma won 52-9)

October 13, 2007            No. 11 Missouri at No. 5 Oklahoma (Oklahoma won 41-31)

November 22, 2008         No. 2 Texas Tech at No. 5 Oklahoma (Oklahoma won 65-21)

13. Florida State

The Seminoles have hosted the biggest game of the week (in ESPN’s opinion) six times, which ties them with Atlanta, Nebraska, Texas and Oklahoma.

October 7, 1995                Miami at No. 1 Florida State (FSU won 41-17)

November 30, 1996            No. 1 Florida at No. 2 Florida State (FSU won 24-21)

November 18, 2000            No. 4 Florida at No. 3 Florida State (FSU won 30-7)

October 13, 2001              No. 1 Miami at No. 13 Florida State (Miami won 49-27)

October 26, 2002              No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 12 Florida State (Notre Dame won 34-24)

October 11, 2003              No. 2 Miami at No. 5 Florida State (Miami won 22-14)

12. Texas

The capital of Texas has received the big bus of college football greatness on six separate occasions which ties them with four other venues for No. 8 overall in Game Day visits.

October 23, 1999              No. 3 Nebraska at No. 18 Texas (Texas won 24-20)

October 4, 2003                No. 16 Kansas State at No. 13 Texas (Texas won 24-20)

October 22, 2005              No. 10 Texas Tech at No. 2 Texas (Texas won 52-17)

September 9, 2006           No. 1 Ohio State at No. 2 Texas (OSU won 24-7)

October 18, 2008             No. 11 Missouri at No. 1 Texas (Texas won 56-31)

September 19, 2009        Texas Tech at No. 2 Texas (Texas won 34-24)

11. Nebraska

Lincoln Nebraska has been on the trail of triumph six times in ESPN Game Day history.

September 17, 1994        No. 13 UCLA at No. 2 Nebraska (Nebraska won 49-21)

October 29, 1994            No. 2 Colorado at No. 3 Nebraska (Nebraska won 24-7)

September 26, 1998        No. 8 Washington at No. 2 Nebraska (Nebraska won 55-7)

September 8, 2001          No. 17 Notre Dame at No. 4 Nebraska (Nebraska won 27-10)

October 27, 2001            No. 2 Oklahoma at No. 3 Nebraska (Nebraska won 20-10)

September 15, 2007        No. 1 USC at No. 14 Nebraska (USC won 49-31)

10. Tennessee

Rocky Top has received the Game Day crew on seven different separate occasions which ties them with two other programs; almost 50 percent of the Vols ESPN visits came when Florida was in town.

September 9, 1995          Georgia at No. 8 Tennessee (Tennessee won 30-27)

September 21, 1996        No. 4 Florida at No. 2 Tennessee (Florida won 35-29)

November 6, 1999           Notre Dame at No. 4 Tennessee (Notre Dame won 38-14)

September 16, 2000        No. 4 Florida at No. 9 Tennessee (Florida won 27-23)

September 21, 2002        No. 10 Florida at No. 4 Tennessee (Florida won 30-13)

November 9, 2002           No. 1 Miami at No. 25 Tennessee (Miami won 26-3)

October 2, 2004              No. 8 Auburn at No. 10 Tennessee (Auburn won 34-10)

9. USC

The Trojans have dialed up the welcome chariot for Lee Corso and friends seven times, a mark that ties them with Tennessee and Notre Dame.

October 9, 2004              No. 7 California at No. 1 USC (USC won 23-17)

November 27, 2004          Notre Dame at No. 1 USC (USC won 41-10)

December 3, 2005           No. 11 UCLA at No. 1 USC (USC won 66-19, game has since been vacated)

September 16, 2006        No. 19 Nebraska at No. 4 USC (USC won 28-10)

November 25, 2006         No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 2 USC (USC won 44-24)

September 13, 2008        No. 5 Ohio State at No. 1 USC (USC won 35-3)

October 30, 2010            No. 2 Oregon at USC (Oregon won 53-32)

8. Notre Dame

South Bend, Indiana hosted the first ever Game Day road trip and then reeled off six additional on-campus appearances tying the Irish at No. 8 all time.

November 13, 1993         No. 1 Florida State at No. 2 Notre Dame (ND won 31-24)

September 10, 1994        No. 6 Michigan at No. 3 Notre Dame (Michigan won 26-24)

October 21, 1995            No. 5 USC at No. 17 Notre Dame (Notre Dame won 38-10)

September 28, 1996        No. 4 Ohio State at No. 5 Notre Dame (OSU won 29-16)

September 5, 1998          No. 5 Michigan at No. 24 Notre Dame (ND won 36-20)

September 9, 2000          No. 1 Nebraska at No. 25 Notre Dame (Nebraska won 27-24)

October 15, 2005             No. 1 USC at No. 9 Notre Dame (USC won 34-31)

7. LSU

Baton Rouge has hosted the Game Day crew on campus eight times, which gives LSU fifth place overall in the all-time standings.

November 9, 1996           No. 10 Alabama at No. 11 LSU (Alabama won 26-0)

October 11, 1997            No. 1 Florida at No. 14 LSU (LSU won 28-21)

September 20, 2003        No. 7 Georgia at No. 11 LSU (LSU won 17-10)

September 4, 2004          Oregon State at No. 3 LSU (LSU won 22-21)

September 8, 2007          No. 9 Virginia Tech at No. 2 LSU (LSU won 48-7)

October 6, 2007              No. 9 Florida at No. 1 LSU (LSU won 28-24)

November 8, 2008           No. 1 Alabama at No. 16 LSU (Alabama won 27-21)

October 10, 2009            No. 1 Florida at No. 4 LSU (Florida won 13-3)

6. Michigan

Michigan has hosted the only regularly scheduled on-campus gridiron pregame show a whopping nine times, tying them with Alabama for No. 4 all time.

October 15, 1994            No. 3 Penn State at No. 5 Michigan (PSU won 31-24)

September 13, 1997        No. 7 Colorado at No. 13 Michigan (Michigan won 27-3)

November 22, 1997         No. 4 Ohio State at No. 2 Michigan (Michigan won 20-14)

September 4, 1999          No. 18 Notre Dame at No. 7 Michigan (Michigan won 26-22)

September 30, 2000        No. 14 Wisconsin at No. 9 Michigan (Michigan won 13-10)

August 31, 2002             No. 9 Washington at No. 12 Michigan (Michigan won 31-29)

September 13, 2003        No. 15 Notre Dame at No. 5 Michigan (Michigan won 38-0)

November 22, 2003         No. 4 Ohio State at No. 5 Michigan (Michigan won 35-21)

November 17, 2007         No. 7 Ohio State at No. 23 Michigan (Ohio State won 14-3)

5. Alabama

The Crimson Tide has rolled with the big boys nine times (thrice in Birmingham, six times in Tuscaloosa) which leaves only four programs ranked higher in the ESPN land grab.

November 19, 1994         No. 6 Auburn at No. 4 Alabama (in Birmingham) (Alabama won 21-14)

October 14, 1995            No. 6 Tennessee at No. 12 Alabama (in Birmingham) (Tennessee won 41-14)

November 23, 1996         Auburn at No. 15 Alabama (in Birmingham) (Alabama won 24-23)

September 1, 2001          No. 17 UCLA at No. 25 Alabama (UCLA won 20-17)

October 5, 2002              No. 8 Georgia at Alabama (Georgia won 27-25)

September 6, 2003          No. 1 Oklahoma at Alabama (Oklahoma won 20-13)

November 12, 2005         No. 5 LSU at No. 3 Alabama (LSU won 16-13)

September 22, 2007        No. 22 Georgia at No. 16 Alabama (Georgia won 26-23)

September 11, 2010        No. 18 Penn State at No. 1 Alabama (Alabama won 24-3)

4. Florida

The Florida Gators are tied for third in terms of ESPN Game Day visits with 10.

November 25, 1995         No. 6 Florida State at No. 3 Florida (Florida won 35-24)

September 20, 1997        No. 4 Tennessee at No. 1 Florida (Florida won 33-20)

September 18, 1999        No. 2 Tennessee at No. 4 Florida (Florida won 23-21)

November 20, 1999         No. 1 Florida State at No. 3 Florida (FSU won 30-23)

December 1, 2001          No. 4 Tennessee at No. 2 Florida (Tennessee won 34-32)

September 7, 2002         No. 1 Miami at No. 6 Florida (Miami won 41-16)

November 29, 2003         No. 9 Florida State at No. 11 Florida (FSU won 38-34)

October 7, 2006             No. 9 LSU at No. 5 Florida (Florida won 23-10)

September 6, 2008         Miami FL at No. 5 Florida (Florida won 26-3)

November 28, 2009         Florida State at No. 1 Florida (Florida won 37-10)

3. Pasadena, California

It should come as no surprise that the ESPN Game Day crew has called on the proceedings at the Rose Bowl 10 different times in history, which puts the “Granddaddy of them All” as the third most frequented destination all time.

January 1, 1998                 No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 7 Washington State, the Rose Bowl (Michigan won 21-16)

January 3, 2002                 No. 1 Miami vs. No. 2 Nebraska, the Rose Bowl (Miami won 37-14)

January 1, 2004                 No. 4 Michigan vs. No. 1 USC, the Rose Bowl (USC won 28-14)

January 4, 2006                 No. 2 Texas vs. No. 1 USC, the Rose Bowl (Texas won 41-38)

January 1, 2007                 No. 8 USC vs. No. 3 Michigan, the Rose Bowl (USC won 32-18)

January 1, 2008                 No. 6 USC vs. No. 13 Illinois, the Rose Bowl (USC won 49-17)

January 1, 2009                 No. 8 Penn State vs. No. 6 USC, the Rose Bowl (USC won 38-24)

January 1, 2010                 No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 7 Oregon, the Rose Bowl (OSU won 26-17)

January 7, 2010                 No. 2 Texas vs. No. 1 Alabama, the BCS title game (Alabama won)

January 1, 2011                 No. 5 Wisconsin vs. No. 3 TCU, the Rose Bowl (TCU won 21-19)

2. Miami FL

Coming in at second, the city of Miami has put the boys from the bus up an impressive 11 times over the years; five were bowl games and six were regular season home games for the Hurricanes.

October 8, 1994                No. 3 Florida State at No. 13 Miami (Miami won 34-20)

January 2, 1998                No. 2 Nebraska vs. No. 3 Tennessee, the Orange Bowl (Nebraska won 41-21)

December 5, 1998             No. 3 UCLA at Miami (Miami won 49-45)

October 7, 2000                No. 2 Florida State at No. 8 Miami (Miami won 27-24)

November 4, 2000             No. 2 Virginia Tech at No. 3 Miami (Miami won 41-21)

January 3, 2001                No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 2 Florida State, the Orange Bowl (Oklahoma won 13-2)

November 17, 2001           No. 13 Syracuse at No. 2 Miami (Miami won 59-0)

January 4, 2005                No. 1 USC vs. No. 2 Oklahoma, the Orange Bowl (USC won 55-19)

September 4, 2006            No. 11 Florida State at No. 12 Miami (FSU won 13-10)

January 8, 2009                 No. 1 Florida vs. No. 2 Oklahoma, BCS national title game (Florida won)

January 3, 2011                 No. 4 Stanford vs. No. 13 Virginia Tech, the Orange Bowl (Stanford won 40-12)

1. Ohio State

Earning the distinct honor of having the ESPN Game Day program on their campus the most times in history is Ohio State with a sizzling 13 visits since 1993.

October 5, 1996                No. 4 Penn State at No. 3 Ohio State (OSU won 38-7)

October 4, 1997                No. 8 Iowa at No. 7 Ohio State (OSU won 23-7)

October 3, 1998                No. 7 Penn State at No. 1 Ohio State (OSU won 28-9)

September 14, 2002          No. 12 Washington State at No. 10 Ohio State (OSU won 25-7)

November 23, 2002            No. 12 Michigan at No. 2 Ohio State (OSU won 14-9)

August 30, 2003                No. 17 Washington at No. 2 Ohio State (OSU won 28-9)

November 15, 2003            No. 11 Purdue at No. 4 Ohio State (OSU won 16-13)

September 10, 2005          No. 2 Texas at No. 4 Ohio State (Texas won 25-22)

September 23, 2006          No. 24 Penn State at No. 1 Ohio State (OSU won 28-6)

November 18, 2006            No. 2 Michigan at No. 1 Ohio State (OSU won 42-29)

October 25, 2008              No. 3 Penn State at No. 9 Ohio State (PSU won 13-6)

September 12, 2009          No. 3 USC at No. 8 Ohio State (USC won 18-15)

November 13, 2010           Penn State at No. 9 Ohio State (OSU won 38-14)