Predicting where will College GameDay and Big Noon Kickoff be this fall

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Nothing identifies a big game in college football like ESPN’s College GameDay coming to town. In recent years, FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff has tried to steal the spotlight thanks to their media deal with the Big Ten. Either way, both shows tend to be at the most hyped games of the week on the college football calendar.

In previous years, we’ve taken a stab at predicting where both shows will be each week. Were they accurate? No. But was it a ton of fun to peruse the calendar and guess? Absolutely.

Without further ado, here is our best effort at determining where Big Noon Kickoff and College GameDay will be each week throughout the 2026 season.

Week 1

GameDay: Clemson at LSU; Big Noon: North Texas at Indiana

Both locations have already been announced for Week 1. The battle for the Death Valley nickname is easily the biggest game of the week. Big Noon will head to Bloomington to help the Hoosiers celebrate their national title.

Week 2

GameDay: Ohio State at Texas; Big Noon: Oklahoma at Michigan

Both of these dates and locations have been announced as well. Both feature powerful Big Ten programs facing the former leaders of the Big 12. It’s a bit surprising both these non-conference matchups are still happening.

There are a few other decent games this week, including Arkansas at Utah, Iowa State at Iowa and Alabama at Kentucky. However, none of them come close to the Ohio State vs. Texas and Oklahoma vs. Michigan.

Week 3

GameDay: LSU at Ole Miss; Big Noon: Arizona State vs. Kansas in London

Big Noon Kickoff will be traveling across the pond for the Union Jack Classic at Wembley Stadium in London. While Arizona State vs. Kansas isn’t exactly a marquee matchup, FOX is taking advantage of the fact there is football abroad. Meanwhile, we’re projecting GameDay to be in Oxford, Mississippi as Lane Kiffin’s return to Ole Miss should be one of the most watched games of the season.

Week 4

GameDay: Oklahoma at Georgia; Big Noon: Oregon at USC

There are a few monster clashes in the SEC this week, so GameDay will have a bevy of options. While we’re projecting ESPN to go to Athens, they easily could pick Texas at Tennessee as well. As for FOX, they will likely take the bait and travel to the West Coast anytime it has the best Big Ten game of the week.

Week 5

GameDay: Notre Dame at North Carolina; Big Noon: Ohio State at Iowa

With the SEC slate lacking in Week 5, I expect College GameDay to look to the ACC and go to either Miami at Clemson or Notre Dame at North Carolina. With Clemson having already been a part of a GameDay experience, I’m leaning towards them going to Chapel Hill. The fact we don’t have Big Noon Kickoff at an Ohio State game through four weeks is likely giving FOX executives hives — Week 5 is their first legitimate chance to change that.

Week 6

GameDay: Georgia at Alabama; Big Noon: USC at Penn State

GameDay normally goes to the Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma, but they will have already seen both teams by this point in the season. Georgia vs Alabama is always appointment television, so it’s a fine enough consolation prize. Meanwhile, Penn State will look to show off the new capacity at Beaver Stadium by hosting Big Noon for the first time this year in Week 6. The rest of the Big Ten slate is mediocre, so this is a fairly safe bet.

Week 7

GameDay: Ohio State at Indiana; Big Noon: Ohio State at Indiana

Occasionally, the pregame shows go to the same location. This is one of those weeks. With both Indiana and Ohio State expected to be national contenders, this is easily the best game of the week. However, the rest of slate is pretty good as well — Penn State at Michigan, Alabama at Tennessee, and Notre Dame at BYU.

Week 8

GameDay: Ole Miss at Texas; Big Noon: Indiana at Michigan

If our predictions are correct, both Big Noon and GameDay will need to return to places they’ve already been in Week 8. All the biggest games are being hosted at places we’ve already predicted to host, such as Texas A&M at Alabama, Ole Miss at Texas, and Indiana at Michigan. Assuming the Wolverines are still a contender at this point, Big Noon seems likely to be in Ann Arbor again.

Week 9

GameDay: Florida vs. Georgia in Atlanta; Big Noon: Ohio State at USC

Week 9 is not the SEC’s cupcake week, yet it’s a surprisingly disappointing slate. Florida vs Georgia is by far the best game, but it’s at a neutral site, per usual. GameDay doesn’t often go to neutral site games after non-conference play and before the conference championships. However, they may have to make an exception this week. Ohio State vs. USC buoys an otherwise poor Big Ten slate as well.

Week 10

GameDay: Miami at Notre Dame; Big Noon: Oregon at Ohio State

In one of the best slates of the season, Week 10 features the two games above, as well as Michigan State at Michigan, Oklahoma at Florida, Alabama at LSU, Georgia at Ole Miss, and BYU at Utah. This is arguably the best slate of the year. GameDay loves an excuse to go to South Bend, so a matchup with the runner-ups from last year should make ESPN executives salivate. For Big Noon, Oregon traveling to Columbus is also must-see TV.

Week 11

GameDay: Tennessee at Texas A&M; Big Noon: USC at Indiana

We’re stepping out on a limb a bit with these predictions. If Tennessee or Texas A&M are still in the playoff hunt come mid-November, this could be an intriguing option for GameDay. But if both aren’t relevant, there are other games ESPN could pivot to such as Texas at LSU or Michigan at Oregon.

Speaking of Michigan at Oregon, we were tempted to project Big Noon to go to Eugene. However, due to strength of schedule differences, it seems more likely that USC is a contender more so than Michigan at this stage in the season. Especially since we know Big Noon will be at a Michigan game for The Game, we’re leaning towards them heading to Bloomington again.

Week 12

GameDay: Arkansas at Texas; Big Noon: Indiana at Washington

The penultimate week of the regular season always has a lackluster schedule. That’s no different this year. We fully expect these projections to be wrong, but there just aren’t that many other decent options to choose from. The other potential options at this point are Texas A&M at Oklahoma, LSU at Tennessee, Texas Tech at Baylor, and Ohio State at Nebraska. Not a lot of great games there, at least on paper.

Week 13

GameDay: Michigan at Ohio State; Big Noon: Michigan at Ohio State

The Game is the most watched college football game every year. Until hell freezes over, we can count on Big Noon Kickoff to be there. As for GameDay, the selections are limited since several of the bigger rivalries don’t take place on Saturday anymore. The Egg Bowl (Mississippi State at Ole Miss), Nebraska at Iowa, Florida at Florida State, and Texas at Texas A&M all take place on Black Friday. On Saturday, ESPN’s options include Auburn at Alabama, Georgia Tech at Georgia, and Virginia at Virginia Tech. It looks likely that The Game will get both shows.

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