ESPN announces College GameDay location for College Football Playoff

The ESPN College GameDay crew broadcast from the field at Michigan Stadium during the NCAA football game between the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Nov. 29, 2025. Ohio State won 27-9. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The 2025 College Football Playoff field was announced on Sunday. The first game of the 2025 College Football Playoff is between No. 9 Alabama (10-3, 6-2) and No. 8 Oklahoma (10-2, 6-2) at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma, on Dec. 19 (8 p.m. EST, ABC).

The other three games of the opening round of the 2025 College Football Playoff will begin on Dec. 20. No. 10 Miami (10-2, 6-2) travels to No. 7 Texas A&M (11-1, 7-1) to open the day (Noon EST, ABC), No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1, 7-1) hosts No. 11 Tulane (11-2, 7-1) in the afternoon window (3:30 p.m. EST, TNT), and No. 12 James Madison (12-1, 8-0) visits No. 5 Oregon (11-1, 7-1) in the night game (7:30 p.m. EST, TNT).

Ahead of the opening round of the 2025 College Football Playoff, ESPN's College GameDay show announced its destination for the weekend. The show will venture to two different schools in one weekend for the first time in the 2025 season.

Two days. Two shows.

Next week, we're heading to Norman on Friday and College Station on Saturday for the first round of the College Football Playoff! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/eipZaAB2Ge

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) December 10, 2025

The first stop for the show during the first weekend of the 2025 College Football Playoff is in Norman, Oklahoma, for the Sooners' matchup with the Crimson Tide on Dec. 19. College GameDay visited Norman for the Sooners' matchup with Michigan on Sept. 6. The Sooners defeated the Wolverines 24-13.

The second of College GameDay's stops is in College Station, Texas, for Texas A&M's bout with Miami at Kyle Field. The show has not yet visited College Station in the 2025 college football season. Its last trip there was for the Aggies' long-awaited reunion with Texas on Nov. 30, 2024, a game Texas won 17-7.

NORMAN, WE'RE COMING TO YOUR CITY‼️

We'll see you next week for Michigan-Oklahoma 😤 pic.twitter.com/Ua0DfjOQYe

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) August 30, 2025

2025 will mark the second season of the 12-team College Football Playoff and the second time College GameDay has visited two schools in one weekend for the College Football Playoff. The show visited Notre Dame on Dec. 20, 2024, and Ohio State on Dec. 21, 2024, for a pair of opening round College Football Playoff matchups.

College GameDay will also venture to the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, CA, on Jan. 1, 2026. No. 1 Indiana (12-0, 9-0) will draw the winner of the game on Dec. 19 between Oklahoma and Alabama (4 p.m. EST, ESPN).

College GameDay has visited the Rose Bowl almost every season since 2005. The lone exception to the annual visits was in 2020 when the game was moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, due to COVID-19 concerns.

ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis and analyst Pat McAfee laugh during the live broadcast on the Texas Tech University campus on Nov. 8, 2025 in Lubbock, Texas. | Mateo Rosiles/ Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images