Where Will College Gameday Be On Vanderbilt's Campus? Details, Significance, More

NASHVILLE—College Gameday is set to take place on Vanderbilt’s Wyatt Lawn, Vandy on SI’s Dylan Tovitz reported and Vanderbilt football confirmed.

The show will air at 8:00 A.M. central, the school announced. College Gameday will begin its setup late in the week.

ESPN’s College Gameday is coming to Nashville for Vanderbilt’s matchup with No. 16 Missouri, it announced. The Commodores knocked off No. 10 LSU on Saturday by a score of 31-24 while Missouri took down Auburn in double overtime to all but secure the Gameday spotlight. The crew chose to come to Nashville rather than North Dakota State vs South Dakota State–a classic FCS rivalry.

It’s the first time that College Gameday is coming to Vanderbilt’s campus since the 2008 season, when it hosted Auburn in Nashville. The Commodores won that game 14-13 after holding Auburn scoreless in the final three quarters of the game.

Vanderbilt was recently featured in Gameday before its 30-14 loss to Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Every member of Gameday’s panel outside of guest picker Theo Von, who says he picked Vanderbilt because it was his “ride home.”

ESPN’s renowned pregame show and their panel of experts—Pat McAfee, Desmond Howard, Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit and former Alabama head coach Nick Saban–will do their show live in the hours prior to Vanderbilt’s Saturday afternoon or evening game.

“Vanderbilt is a great story,” Davis said from Alabama’s campus prior to Vanderbilt’s matchup with No. 10 Alabama. “Everybody loves the underdog, right? Everybody tends to, unless you’re an Alabama fan and you’re rooting for the continuation of the dynasty. Most people who don’t have a dog in the fight, if you’re watching a movie, the movie’s normally built around the underdog.”

The contingent of Vanderbilt fans in attendance is expected to crowd the lawn starting early on Saturday morning and into the start of the show. There was speculation that Gameday would be held somewhere around Nashville like Broadway or Centennial Park, but the crew opted to keep it on Vanderbilt’s campus like it did in 2008.

Select College Gameday personalities will meet the media on Friday prior to Saturday’s show and will detail their decision to choose Vanderbilt’s matchup with Missouri rather than standout FCS matchup North Dakota State vs. South Dakota State.

“I just think ‘undefeated and ranked, you watch them on tape and they’re legit,’” Gameday’s Steve Coughlin told the media prior to Vanderbilt’s matchup with Alabama. “The offense is better than it was last year. We’re getting in October now, man. Everything’s going to rise to the top, right? Vanderbilt definitely deserves the praises again.”