Why Kirk Herbstreit has to leave College GameDay early this weekend

Kirk Herbstreit won't be available for the entire College GameDay program this weekend. Here's why.

Kirk Herbstreit's hectic travel schedule during the college football season means he'll have to leave College GameDay early Saturday. | Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Kirk Herbstreit has a busier schedule than most people during the college football season, and the pressure of those commitments means he won’t be able to make his full appearance on College GameDay at Oregon this weekend.

Herbstreit has been a fixture of ESPN’s flagship college football program for many years, but the demands of his schedule this week means he’ll have to leave early on Saturday.

The reason? Herbstreit revealed that he’ll be leaving Eugene in order to catch a plane for Dallas, where he’ll meet up with Chris Fowler in time to work as the color analyst for the historic Red River Shootout game between Texas and Oklahoma.

An all-time week for me and Peter traveling over 5,400 miles. From Nashville to New York for @NFLonPrime as the @Eagles face the @Giants. Then a redeye to Eugene @CollegeGameDay with @Indianafootball at @Oregonfootball on Saturday morning, before leaving mid show for a whirlwind… pic.twitter.com/QLnaxuBHGy

— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) October 9, 2025

The trip will cap off a hectic couple of days for Herbstreit, who was also on hand for his weekly duties calling the Thursday Night Football game in the NFL for Amazon Prime.

Herbstreit joined Al Michaels to take in the Giants’ victory over the Eagles on Thursday night before taking off on a red eye flight for the west coast in time to do his duties with College GameDay ahead of the big Indiana vs. Oregon matchup this weekend.

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But before Herbstreit takes off, he’ll be sure to provide his analysis for what to expect in one of college football’s most consequential midseason games kicking off on Saturday.

Oregon and Indiana both have the same plan this weekend: stay undefeated overall and in Big Ten conference play and use the game as what should be a serious resume-builder for the selection committee come College Football Playoff time.

It marks the second-straight such test for the Ducks, who passed the first one last weekend with a double-overtime victory against then-No. 3 Penn State on the road, even if that win looks a little less impressive after the Nittany Lions’ loss to UCLA last week.

What happens in this game could go a long way in influencing what happens in the College Football Playoff selection committee room, especially given neither team may not have such a golden opportunity to make such a good impression for the rest of the season.

Herbstreit has commented in the past on the nature of his busy travel regimen during football season, saying that he prefers to stay thankful for the opportunity to have such a problem.

“I’ve tried to stay incredibly grateful and positive. I think when you get tired, it’s easy to complain, it’s easy to say, ‘Then I have to go to Montana, and then I got to fly all...’” he said in a conference call in recent years. 

“It’s so easy to go that path, and I’ve done the opposite. I’ve tried to stay almost in a Navy Seal mentality. No one cares. End of the day, you could sit there and talk about… ‘I’ve got to get up at 4 a.m.’ And people are just like, ‘Oh, really? That’s great.’ No one cares. And so, once you accept that nobody cares, you don’t need to complain.”

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