BATON ROUGE – LSU Football will usher in the Lane Kiffin era by hosting ESPN’s College GameDay for the season-opener against Clemson on Saturday, Sept. 5, the network announced on Tuesday.
The announcement of College GameDay coming to Baton Rouge for the season-opener marks the second time the show will originate from the LSU campus during the opening weekend of the college football season. LSU also hosted the season-opening College GameDay in 2004 when the Tigers beat Oregon State, 22-21, in overtime.
The 2026 season-opening show on the LSU campus will mark the 500th College Game Day roadshow as ESPN enters its 40th season of GameDay. College GameDay started in 1987 and originally broadcast from the ESPN studio in Bristol, Conn.
ESPN took the show on the road for the first time in 1993 and made its first appearance on the LSU campus in 1996 when the Tigers hosted Alabama.
College GameDay will be making its 15th appearance on the LSU campus and the first since November of 2024 when college football’s most popular pregame show was in town for the Alabama contest. LSU ranks No. 4 all-time in number of times hosting College GameDay, trailing only Ohio State (26), Alabama (20) and Michigan (16).
LSU’s appearance on College GameDay for the season-opener against Clemson will mark the 37th time the Tigers have been one of the show’s featured teams. LSU is 22-14 all-time when appearing as a featured team on College GameDay, a mark that includes a 7-7 mark when the show comes to Baton Rouge.
Details on show location on the LSU campus will be announced as football season nears.
LSU’s All-Time College GameDay History
| Date |
City (Location) |
Matchup |
Result |
| Nov. 9, 1996 |
Baton Rouge (PMAC ramps) |
#11 LSU vs. #10 Alabama |
L, 26-0 |
| Oct. 11, 1997 |
Baton Rouge (PMAC ramps) |
#14 LSU vs. #1 Florida |
W, 28-21 |
| Sept. 20, 2003 |
Baton Rouge (PMAC ramps) |
#11 LSU vs. #7 Georgia |
W, 17-10 |
| Dec. 6, 2003 |
Atlanta, Ga. |
#3 LSU vs. #5 Georgia |
W,34-13 |
| Jan. 4, 2004 |
New Orleans, La. |
#2 LSU vs. #3 Oklahoma |
W, 21-14 |
| Sept. 4, 2004 |
Baton Rouge (Parade Ground) |
#4 LSU vs. Oregon State |
W, 22-21 (OT) |
| Nov. 12, 2005 |
Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
#5 LSU vs. #4 Alabama |
W, 16-13 (OT) |
| Oct. 7, 2006 |
Gainesville, Fla. |
#9 LSU vs. #5 Florida |
L, 23-10 |
| Sept. 8, 2007 |
Baton Rouge (Parade Ground) |
#2 LSU vs. #9 Virginia Tech |
W, 48-7 |
| Oct. 6, 2007 |
Baton Rouge (Parade Ground) |
#1 LSU vs. #9 Florida |
W, 28-24 |
| Jan. 7, 2008 |
New Orleans, La. |
#2 LSU vs. #1 Ohio State |
W, 38-24 |
| Sept. 20, 2008 |
Auburn, Ala. |
#6 LSU vs. #9 Auburn |
W, 26-21 |
| Nov. 8, 2008 |
Baton Rouge (Old Front Nine) |
#15 LSU vs. #1 Alabama |
L, 27-21 (OT) |
| Oct. 10, 2009 |
Baton Rouge (Parade Ground) |
#4 LSU vs. #1 Florida |
L, 13-3 |
| Sept. 4, 2010 |
Atlanta, Ga. |
#21 LSU vs. #18 North Carolina |
W, 30-24 |
| Sept. 3, 2011 |
Arlington, Texas |
#4 LSU vs. #3 Oregon |
W, 40-27 |
| Sept. 24, 2011 |
Morgantown, W.Va. |
#2 LSU vs. #16 West Virginia |
W, 47-21 |
| Nov. 5, 2011 |
Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
#1 LSU vs. #2 Alabama |
W, 9-6 (OT) |
| Dec. 3, 2011 |
Atlanta, Ga. |
#1 LSU vs. #12 Georgia |
W, 42-10 |
| Jan. 9, 2012 |
New Orleans, La. |
#1 LSU vs. #2 Alabama |
L, 21-0 |
| Nov. 3, 2012 |
Baton Rouge (Parade Ground) |
#5 LSU vs. #1 Alabama |
L, 21-17 |
| Sept. 28, 2013 |
Athens, Ga. |
#6 LSU vs. #9 Georgia |
L, 44-41 |
| Nov. 9, 2013 |
Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
#10 LSU vs. #1 Alabama |
L, 38-17 |
| Oct. 25, 2014 |
Baton Rouge (Parade Ground) |
#24 LSU vs. #3 Ole Miss |
W, 10-7 |
| Nov. 7, 2015 |
Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
#4 LSU vs. #7 Alabama |
L, 30-16 |
| Sept. 3, 2016 |
Green Bay, Wisc. |
#5 LSU vs. Wisconsin |
L, 16-14 |
| Nov. 5, 2016 |
Baton Rouge (Quad) |
#15 LSU vs. #1 Alabama |
L, 10-0 |
| Nov. 3, 2018 |
Baton Rouge (Quad) |
#4 LSU vs. #1 Alabama |
L, 29-0 |
| Sept. 7, 2019 |
Austin, Texas |
#6 LSU vs. #9 Texas |
W, 45-38 |
| Oct. 12, 2019 |
Baton Rouge (Quad) |
#5 LSU vs. #7 Florida |
W, 42-28 |
| Nov. 9, 2019 |
Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
#1 LSU vs. #2 Alabama |
W, 46-41 |
| Dec. 7, 2019 |
Atlanta, Ga. |
#1 LSU vs. #4 Georgia |
W, 37-10 |
| Jan. 13, 2020 |
New Orleans, La. |
#1 LSU vs. #3 Clemson |
W,42-25 |
| Nov. 4, 2023 |
Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
#13 LSU vs. #8 Alabama |
L, 42-28 |
| Sept. 14, 2024 |
Columbia, S.C. |
#16 LSU vs. South Carolina |
W, 36-33 |
| Nov. 9, 2024 |
Baton Rouge, La. (Quad) |
#14 LSU vs. #11 Alabama |
L, 42-23 |
| Sept. 5, 2026 |
Baton Rouge, La. (TBD) |
LSU vs. Clemson |
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