All aboard: College GameDay heading to Baton Rouge for LSU/Alabama & #1Day1Game
College GameDay Built by The Home Depot will originate from Baton Rouge, La., next week, the site of Saturday’s SEC showdown between No. 1 Alabama (8-0, 5-0) and No. 7 LSU (7-1, 3-1).
College GameDay, in its 26th year, will be making its ninth all-time visit to the home of the Tigers and its first since October 10, 2009 when Florida beat LSU, 13-3, and Saints QB Drew Brees was the celebrity picker.
LSU is 6-2 with GameDay in Death Valley and has lost the last two such games. (GameDay has been to the state of Louisiana for LSU games 10 prior times with both other visits in New Orleans for bowl games in 2004 and 2011; the Tigers are 1-1 in those affairs.)
Alabama has been part of two Baton Rouge-originating GameDays, including the show’s first visit on Nov. 9, 1996. The Crimson Tide have won both games
Undefeated Alabama is coming off Saturday’s 38-7 win against Mississippi State on ESPN, while LSU enjoyed a week off.
Saturday’s game is also providing the backdrop for ESPN The Magazine’s #1Day1Game theme issue. Follow Wright Thomspon on Twitter for more on the ambitious, all-out, attempt at covering one the season’s biggest regular season match-ups. (UPDATED) Other Twitter handles to follow for #1Day1Game appear at the bottom of this post.
Lee Corso is 6-2 with his LSU headgear picks in Baton Rouge.
College GameDay will air live at 9 a.m. on ESPNU and 10 a.m. on ESPN with host Chris Fowler, analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack, and host/reporter Samantha Steele and Tom Rinaldi. Brent Musburger and Herbstreit will call the Notre Dame-Oklahoma game that evening with sideline reporter Heather Cox.
Last year, San Francisco Giant Brian Wilson was in Tuscaloosa for LSU’s GameDay visit to the Tide. It was a memorable appearance, to say the least.
Ryan McGee: @ESPNMcGee
Kevin Van Valkenburg: @KVanValkenburg
Morty Ain: @MortyAin
Jordan Brenner: @JordanBrenner
Sarah Turcotte: @SarahT_ESPN
Elena Bergeron: @ebee3
Eddie Matz: @ESPNEddieMatz
Steve Wulf: @WulfESPN
Chad Millman: @chadmillman
Amy Brachmann: @AmyBrachmann
Scott Miller: @stmillr
Ross Marrinson: @RMarrinsonESPN
Hallie Grossman: @Hallie_Gee
