ESPN’s College GameDay will begin the 2023 season in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The host site was announced on Monday by ESPN. Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium hosts the Duke’s Mayo Classic between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the South Carolina Gamecocks.
https://twitter.com/CollegeGameDay/status/1683522847057092623?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
This is the fourth time Charlotte has hosted GameDay. In December 2017 and 2020, GameDay went to Charlotte for the ACC Championship. In 2021, GameDay visited Charlotte in Week 1 for Georgia’s win over Clemson in the Duke’s Mayo Classic.
Glancing over the schedule, Charlotte was probably the favorite, given that the game is airing in primetime on ABC. ESPN often leans towards neutral or unique site games in Week 1, and North Carolina-South Carolina in Charlotte fits the bill.
ESPN will not be taking GameDay on the road for Week 0 or on the Thursday of Week 1. A release notes that GameDay’s first road show of the 2023 season, and there will be a two-hour season preview show from Bristol during Saturday of Week 0. Last year, GameDay went to Pittsburgh on the Thursday of Week 1 before heading to Columbus on Saturday.
This season, College GameDay will look a lot different on ESPN. Analyst David Pollack was among June’s layoffs, and reporter Gene Wojciechowski also left the company at the end of June. Pat McAfee will return to the set following his full-time hire by ESPN earlier this year. ESPN’s release notes that Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbsreit, and Desmond Howard will join McAfee on the GameDay set, along with Jen Lada, Jess Sims, and Pete Thamel.
[ESPN]
