Kansas Chosen to Host ESPN College GameDay for Matchup vs BYU

On Saturday, it was announced that ESPN College GameDay is heading back to Lawrence ahead of a key Big 12 matchup between the No. 19 ranked Kansas Jayhawks (15-5, 5-2) and No. 13 ranked BYU Cougars (17-2, 5-1) on Saturday, Jan. 31, inside Allen Fieldhouse.

The one-hour program will begin at 10 a.m. CT Saturday featuring host Rece Davis and a panel of college basketball analysts in Jay Williams, Jay Bilas, Seth Greenberg, and Andraya Carter.

This will be the 13th time that College GameDay has come to Lawrence for basketball. The 13 appearances are tied with North Carolina for the second most all time behind only Duke who has hosted a record 14 times.

The Jayhawks are 10-2 as hosts of College GameDay, with the only losses coming against Texas A&M in February 2007 (66-69) and Kentucky in January 2022 (62-80).

More details for the show are expected to be released early this week.

Kansas vs BYU features pair of freshmen phenoms

KU’s matchup against BYU is one of the more anticipated Big 12 games of the year thanks to a pair of star-studded freshmen in KU’s Darryn Peterson and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa.

The two have a long history of memorable matchups dating back to their high school days where Peterson’s Prolific Prep team and Dybantsa’s Utah prep team met often on the hardwood.

In December 2024, the two players battled back and forth in what ended up being a 76-70 win for Prolific Prep behind Peterson’s 32 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists. Dybantsa finished the game with 28 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Then in February 2025, the two teams met for a rematch in what many scouts have called one of the best high school basketball games of all time.

The two future pros put on a show, combining for more than 100 points in the game. Peterson set a school record with 58 points in the contest which included a game-winning three with less than five seconds remaining. Peterson also had 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals in the win.

Dybantsa did his best to counter punch Peterson with 49 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists of his own. But it was not enough as Prolific Prep topped Utah Prep 88-86.

Both players are widely expected to be candidates for the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft in June.