ESPN's 'College GameDay' will stick in Big 12, with BYU and Texas Tech

PROVO — ESPN's popular pregame show, "College GameDay" is sticking around Big 12 country.

The pregame party for all things college football that debuted in 1987 will be live from Lubbock, Texas, next week when Texas Tech hosts BYU in a pivotal game for teams atop the Big 12 standings.

It will mark the second straight week "GameDay" will be live from a Big 12 campus, after No. 24 Utah hosted No. 17 Cincinnati late Saturday night. ESPN's flagship college football show hasn't been to Lubbock since Nov. 1. 2008, when former Red Raiders coach Mike Leach and then-N. 6 Texas Tech upended No. 1 Texas.

The Red Raiders (8-1, 5-1 Big 12) could be ranked in the Associated Press top 10 for the game, too, after a 43-20 win over Kansas State — and hosting currently undefeated BYU (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) that is currently tied for 10th.

The game is scheduled to kick off at 10 a.m. MST (11 a.m. CT in Lubbock) on ABC.

Saturday will make BYU's fourth appearance on "College GameDay" — though the Cougars have lost the previous three times they've appeared on the show. The Cougars were also the visiting team Dec. 5, 2020 before a 22-17 loss to then-No. 18 Coastal Carolina in a hastily scheduled game played during the COVID-19 pandemic.

No. 7 TCU handed No. 16 BYU a 38-7 loss during the pregame program's only visit to Provo back on Oct. 24, 2009, and then-No. 6 Utah beat BYU 52-21 in the other visit Nov. 20, 2004 in Salt Lake City.

The Cougars are one of four schools with an 0-3 record when GameDay visits, according to NCAA.com. Lest you think that correlation extrapolates causation, BYU is also 2-0 when hosting FOX's "Big Noon Kickoff," including a win over then-No. 23 Utah earlier this season.

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