There was a time when Saturday morning college football meant turning on ESPN, grabbing some breakfast and listening to Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit get everyone ready for the day’s action.
Then something happened.
College GameDay became a traveling circus.
Thousands of fans began showing up before sunrise. Signs became an art form. Celebrity guest pickers arrived. Lee Corso started putting on mascot heads. And occasionally, things got a little out of control.
Since ESPN first took the show on the road in 1993, College GameDay has given us some absolutely unforgettable television.
Here are a few of the moments that remind us why the show became every bit as much a part of college football Saturday as the games themselves.
1993: Notre Dame and Florida State Start It All
Before there were massive crowds, celebrity pickers and elaborate signs, there was South Bend, Indiana.
On November 13, 1993, ESPN took College GameDay out of its Bristol studios for the first time, setting up at Notre Dame for the No. 1 Florida State versus No. 2 Notre Dame showdown.
Both teams entered undefeated, Charlie Ward was leading the Seminoles, and the Irish were preparing for one of the biggest games in program history.
Notre Dame won 31-24, Shawn Wooden broke up Florida State’s final pass in the end zone, and College GameDay had discovered something special.
The traveling show was born.
Little did anyone know what it would eventually become.
2000: Lee Corso Gets Struck by Lightning. Sort Of.
You can’t have a list like this without Lee Corso.
During the 2000 season opener between Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech, a thunderstorm rolled through the area.
A camera mounted above the stadium captured lightning striking a car in the parking lot.
There was just one problem.
It was Lee Corso’s car.
Corso didn’t even realize what had happened until he drove away from the stadium. A couple of miles down the road, the electrical systems began failing.
His explanation afterward was classic Corso:
“I’m never picking against Virginia Tech again!”
You couldn’t make this stuff up.
2002: Lee Corso Becomes Benjamin Franklin
In November 2002, College GameDay made an unusual trip to Philadelphia for the matchup between Harvard and Penn.
It was the show’s first-ever visit to an Ivy League or FCS school.
Naturally, Corso had to make the occasion memorable.
With Penn’s nickname being the Quakers, the traditional mascot-head routine wasn’t going to work particularly well.
So Corso took a different approach.
He dressed up as Benjamin Franklin, complete with the bald cap and recognizable spectacles, and proudly declared:
“I founded Penn!”
It was ridiculous. It was entertaining. And it was absolutely perfect College GameDay.
2005: The Bayou Classic Gets the ESPN Treatment
College GameDay has visited plenty of massive stadiums and traditional college football powers.
But one of its most memorable stops came in Houston for the 2005 Bayou Classic between Southern and Grambling State.
The annual HBCU rivalry was a tremendous showcase for the atmosphere, tradition and passion of historically Black college football.
Grambling won 50-35 in a game featuring two of the most recognizable programs in the sport’s HBCU landscape.
It was also a reminder that college football’s greatest traditions aren’t limited to the biggest conferences or the most expensive stadiums.
Sometimes the best atmosphere is found somewhere you might not expect.
2011: Lee Corso Drops an F-Bomb on National Television
Even the most experienced television personalities have bad days.
During a 2011 broadcast from Houston ahead of the SMU-Houston matchup, Corso was working through his usual routine of talking up one team before eventually revealing his pick.
Only this time, things weren’t going according to plan.
The director wasn’t getting the camera shots Corso wanted, and the segment was becoming increasingly awkward.
Then Corso finally had enough.
He tossed his megaphone and dropped an uncensored F-bomb on live television.
Chris Fowler’s expression was priceless. Kirk Herbstreit looked stunned. And the production crew suddenly had a memorable Saturday morning.
Corso later apologized, but the moment quickly became one of the most infamous bloopers in GameDay history.
2016: Bill Murray Takes Down Lee Corso
When College GameDay arrived at Clemson in 2016, the guest picker was none other than Bill Murray.
That alone was enough to make for an entertaining morning.
But Murray wasn’t content to simply make his picks and go home.
During the broadcast, the legendary actor got physical with Corso, delivering a playful body slam that left the crew and crowd laughing.
It was exactly the sort of unpredictable moment that made GameDay so entertaining.
And somewhere, you have to imagine Corso was thinking that he hadn’t signed up for professional wrestling.
2012: The Sign That Took a Shot at the SEC
College GameDay signs have become a show within the show.
Some are clever. Some are outrageous. Some are probably better left for another time.
But one of the most memorable appeared during the 2012 broadcast at Notre Dame.
As the Irish hosted Stanford, one fan held up a sign that read:
“SEC, this is what a library looks like!”
It was a simple shot at the SEC, but the setting made it perfect.
The sign became an instant hit, and it was another reminder that the fans standing behind the GameDay desk were often providing their own entertainment.
2022: The Montana-Montana State Atmosphere
For all the attention given to the traditional college football powers, one of the most memorable recent GameDay destinations came in November 2022.
ESPN traveled to Bozeman, Montana, for the annual Montana-Montana State rivalry, known as the Brawl of the Wild.
This wasn’t a typical Power Five matchup.
It was an FCS rivalry with generations of history, enormous regional pride and a fan base that treated the game like a national championship.
The atmosphere was spectacular.
Nearly 2.2 million viewers tuned in to watch the broadcast, and Montana State eventually defeated Montana 55-21.
It was a wonderful reminder that College GameDay could make a small college town feel like the center of the football universe.
More Than a Pregame Show
The funny thing about College GameDay is that it was never supposed to become such a big deal.
It started as a studio program in 1987. Six years later, ESPN took it to Notre Dame for one enormous football game.
And from there, it grew into a Saturday morning tradition.
The signs, the mascots, the guest pickers, the outrageous Lee Corso moments and the thousands of fans who show up before sunrise have become part of the fabric of college football.
Lee Corso deserves an enormous amount of credit for that transformation. He understood that football was the vehicle, but entertainment was the destination.
And he delivered.
So the next time you see a crowd gathered around the GameDay set, remember that it all started with a broadcast in South Bend back in 1993.
And if Lee Corso’s car happens to be parked nearby during a thunderstorm, somebody might want to check on it.
You never know what Saturday morning has in store.
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