Tennessee football help sets viewership records for 'College GameDay,' Texas game

Tennessee football helped set viewership records for ESPN's "College Gameday" in Knoxville on Sept. 26.

The edition of "College GameDay" that aired from outside Ayers Hall ahead of kickoff between the Vols and No. 1 Texas was the fourth most-watched regular season episode of all time and the most watched Week 4 episode ever, according to ESPN.

The game itself, a 20-17 loss for the Vols broadcast on ABC, averaged 9.7 million viewers and peaked at 12.9 million viewers. It was the most-watched game of Week 4, the top-rated game in the noon timeslot across all networks on Sept. 26 and the top-rated noon game on all ESPN networks since 2016, according to data compiled with Neilson's Big Data + Panel measurement.

The final hour of "College GameDay," which broadcasted from the southwest corner of Neyland Stadium leading into kickoff, drew 3.7 million viewers, surpassing competing pregame shows by 163%, according to ESPN.

"Thank you Knoxville. We appreciate you!," Kirk Herbstreit, part of the "College GameDay" crew, wrote on X on Sept. 29.

Thank you Knoxville. We appreciate you!
Headed to Iowa City next!
Let’s keep this rollin!!! https://t.co/6vGuDRPuyF

— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) September 29, 2026

"College GameDay" is enjoying a strong start to the 2026 season. Every episode aired this season so far has ranked among the top 10 in viewership all-time.

A top-15 matchup between undefeated SEC teams was further built up by a visit from President Donald Trump. As "College GameDay" wrapped up their broadcast from inside Neyland Stadium, Air Force One flew over Neyland Stadium.

There will be considerably less fanfare for the No. 17 Vols' (3-1, 0-1 SEC) next game against Auburn (3-1, 1-1 SEC) on Oct. 3 (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Neyland Stadium.

Stephen Thompson covers Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball. Email him at stephen.thompson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @stephenethom.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football help sets viewership records for 'College GameDay,' Texas game