ESPN College GameDay is coming to Knoxville for Tennessee Basketball’s January 28 contest against the Texas Longhorns, ESPN announced Saturday morning. The show will be live from Thompson-Boling Arena ahead of the Vols’ sold out battle with the Longhorns in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Knoxville, we're coming to your cityyyyy 🏀@TexasMBB | @Vol_Hoops pic.twitter.com/9w5Je5HN7S
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) January 21, 2023
The show will feature host Rece Davis along with analysts Jay Bilas, LaPhonso Ellis and Seth Greenberg. Live hits for ESPN will also take place from TBA prior to the 11 ET start time of the show. The show will end at 12 p.m. ET.
Per Tennessee’s press release, Josiah-Jordan James expressed great excitement regarding the news.
“We can’t wait for Vol Nation to show up and show out for College GameDay,” James said. “We already know Tennessee has the best fanbase on the planet. Saturday is going to be an awesome opportunity to showcase that.”
Saturday, January 28 will not be the first time Vol Nation has gotten to flex their muscles, as College GameDay came to Knoxville twice during football season: once for the Florida game and once for the Alabama game. Additionally, the flagship show is coming to Knoxville for the Lady Vols showdown against UCONN on Thursday, January 26.
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Tennessee is the only school that will have hosted hosted College GameDay for football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball this season and overall. Tennessee has hosted the football show 11 times, the men’s basketball show three times (after the 28th), and the women’s hoops show twice (after Thursday).
The last time Knoxville played host to the men’s basketball College GameDay was in 2011, prior to a men’s and women’s double-header against Vanderbilt. The show also came to the 865 in 2009 before the men’s matchup against Florida.
UT is 3-3 all-time in games for which College GameDay is on-site, per UT’s press release. The Vols are 2-0 when the show is in Knoxville and 1-3 when on the road.
With Tennessee vs. Texas serving as the fourth time Knoxville will host College GameDay this school year, the University of Tennessee is officially the only school to host the show four times in the same athletic year.
Tennessee is also the only school to have hosted @CollegeGameDay on campus four times in the same athletic year.
Sept. 24, 2022 – @Vol_Football vs. Florida
Oct. 15, 2022 – @Vol_Football vs. Alabama
Jan. 26, 2023 – @LadyVol_Hoops vs. UConn
Jan. 28, 2023 – @Vol_Hoops vs. Texas pic.twitter.com/76IKBPHli3— Tennessee Stats & Info (@Vol_Stats) January 21, 2023
The ninth-ranked Vols have two upcoming SEC matchups ahead of their showdown against Texas. The Vols will take on LSU Saturday at 4 p.m. ET and host Georgia on Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET.
