ESPN will hit the road to Durham, North Carolina, but for the first time in history, it won’t be for college basketball. No, instead, the ‘College GameDay‘ pregame show will emanate from the campus of Duke University for the first time in the show’s illustrious history.
ESPN announced the location for GameDay on the show’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter. “FOR THE FIRST TIME … DURHAM HERE WE COME!” they proclaimed. The show will be on location ahead of the Top 25 matchup between the Blue Devils and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
FOR THE FIRST TIME … DURHAM HERE WE COME! 🗣️
Week 5: @NDFootball at @DukeFOOTBALL đź‘Ź pic.twitter.com/pbBeeBS0MG
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 24, 2023
This is a unique opportunity for the show in its latest season. Duke isn’t quite known for its prowess on the football field. The ‘College GameDay’ basketball show has aired from Cameron Indoor Stadium before, but this figures to be different. Duke football is off to a strong start to the season. They defeated the vaunted Clemson Tigers to begin the year and have caught fire since.
The now 4-0 Blue Devils trounced the UConn Huskies – a game that would befit national attention on the hardwood between those two schools. Due won 41-7 in near effortless fashion on Saturday. Their adversaries next week, however, are on the heels of a brutal loss. Notre Dame lost with one second to go to the Ohio State Buckeyes in South Bend.
The crushing loss for Notre Dame may hit the matchup with a little less excitement. But there’s always an aura to Notre Dame and they certainly wouldn’t hype the matchup if they didn’t think national interest would descend upon it.
There’s also the added element here of a new school and campus getting the spotlight on ‘College GameDay.’ The show is at its best when it’s in unique environments and not just at the hottest school of the week. It suffered from that for a while, but the show has made a concerted effort to right that wrong and return to what made the show great in the first place.
