College GameDay Predictions, Schedule & Locations For 2026

Over 39 years, ESPN’s College GameDay has grown from a little-known in-studio cable TV show into a multimedia behemoth that routinely attracts more than two million viewers each week.

Which college football games will Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, and the rest of the GameDay crew visit in 2026? And what will their game predictions be once they’re there?

Here’s the complete guide.

Which College GameDay Analyst Had the Most Accurate Predictions In 2025?

Believe it or not, it was crowd hype maestro Pat McAfee who had the most accurate predictions during the combined final segments of the show in 2025.

Throughout the 2025 College GameDay season, McAfee was rarely afraid to pick an unlikely upset or go against the rest of the panel. In a particularly chaotic season of constant upsets, this proved to be a boon for McAfee, who ran up the score against his fellow panelists.

In 2024, McAfee’s picks ran the other way. His constant upset picks were often misses, and he ended up with the worst record of anyone on the panel.

Former panelist Lee Corso actually had the best winning percentage in ’24.

2025 Records for College GameDay Panelist Predictions

College GameDay Locations: Schedule Predictions for 2026

Below, I make predictions for College GameDay’s potential locations for the upcoming 2026 season. These predictions are based on ESPN’s historical patterns, plus a little personal instinct.

Week 1 College GameDay Prediction

• Washington State at Washington

There will be plenty of focus on the LSU/Clemson game in Week 1, and that would be the conventional pick for a lot of GameDay watchers.

I have a couple of questions, though. At this point in Dabo Swinney’s tenure, are we sure Clemson’s involvement automatically equates to a marquee September nonconference game? I don’t know if you’ve checked the ACC conference odds for 2026 yet, but the Tigers are not exactly favored to win the league.

A trip to the Pacific Northwest yields a rare Week 1 rivalry – the Apple Cup – and a chance to highlight a major storyline for 2026. That would be the reformation of the Pac-12, represented in Seattle in Week 1 by Washington State.

There’s also the fact that LSU will almost surely be involved with GameDay in Week 3. So there’s that.

Week 2 College GameDay Prediction

• Ohio State at Texas

This rematch from last year’s Week 1 showdown will surely offer too much Heisman bait for GameDay to go anywhere else. And there are a lot of other good games in Week 2!

Week 3 College GameDay Prediction

• LSU at Ole Miss

This game will be full reality television. Lane Kiffin returns to the site of his scorned team, and GameDay could set a ratings record.

Week 4 College GameDay Prediction

• Utah at Iowa State

In the age of mega-conferences, it sometimes feels like ESPN has to hunt for reasons to choose Big 12 games.

But Week 4 has two strong options in the Big 12 – Oklahoma State at West Virginia could be another interesting one – where new coaches are taking over and hoping to recreate the success their new programs have recently experienced.

In short: With Kyle Whittingham and Matt Campbell now gone, which one of these teams is better positioned to still compete for a title in 2026?

Week 5 College GameDay Prediction

• Miami at Clemson

I’m a bit skeptical this will be Miami’s toughest conference game of the year, but the battle of the brands will be tough to contend with. GameDay will be hunting for opportunities to hit ACC games, and this one will stick out.

Week 6 College GameDay Prediction

• Texas vs Oklahoma

Week 6 also features Georgia’s road game at Alabama, so there’s a possibility GameDay opts for a matchup that has defined the sport over the past decade. But if you’re looking for the best game, I think it’ll be hard to argue against the Red River game at the Cotton Bowl.

Week 7 College GameDay Prediction

• Ohio State at Indiana

This is an obvious GameDay spot, even six months beforehand. This is a Big Ten championship game rematch and should carry major CFP implications.

It’ll also answer an important question: Does Curt Cignetti own the Big Ten now?

Week 8 College GameDay Prediction

• Houston at Texas Tech

There’s probably six or seven better games than this on the calendar, but they all feature the same 10 teams that are always on GameDay.

Would the show prefer to make a second Big 12 trip and highlight the Red Raiders, who could be angling for a second straight Big 12 championship by late October? Perhaps.

Week 9 College GameDay Prediction

• Georgia vs. Florida

Georgia is going to get one of these October weeks, and the Cocktail game against Florida seems as good an option as any. If the Gators are good, it’ll also be a chance to highlight first-year coach Jon Sumrall and the work he’s done in Gainesville.

Week 10 College GameDay Prediction

• Miami at Notre Dame

Last year, they played in early September, and the winner advanced to the CFP. A similar situation will likely unfold in 2026 – especially with this game much closer to the end of the season.

Week 11 College GameDay Prediction

• Tennessee at Texas A&M

Texas A&M could be in position near the top of the SEC in Week 11 – just as it was last year – and neither of these teams have been featured on my list of potential game hosts yet.

Week 12 College GameDay Prediction

• San Diego State at Boise State

How much respect does ESPN want to pay to the new Pac-12? It’s been more than 15 years since GameDay went to a Mountain West destination, but they may be willing to head to Boise now that the Broncos are in a different conference.

Week 13 College GameDay Prediction

• Virginia Tech at Virginia

ESPN always has its pick of rivalry games, and it’s always safe to bet on a trip to Tuscaloosa or Columbus. But one of the more interesting options could be Charlottesville.

Virginia played in last year’s ACC title game and could be a factor again this year, depending on how much you believe in Tony Elliott. Rival Virginia Tech now had James Franklin at the helm and could present a real threat to win the ACC in Year 1.

Best of all: UVA is on the short list of college football teams that have never hosted College GameDay.

College GameDay Schedule 2025

College GameDay Prediction Records (2024)

Betting On College GameDay Games & Predictions

I field a lot of random online sports betting questions when I talk to college football bettors. One that I get from time to time is whether or not there’s a playable angle involving the College GameDay panel predictions.

The most common form of this question usually centers around fading specific predictions. For instance, every seasoned GameDay watcher knows to beware the game where everyone picks the same team to win in a clean sweep across the board. Even the panelists acknowledge and joke about the danger of these moments.

College Gameday panel picks Ole Miss over Kentucky. Still waiting on Ben’s selection.

Time to shock the world. pic.twitter.com/HC4hzPNZFm

— KSR (@KSRonX) September 28, 2024

So, what would happen if you actually bet the other side of these games? I did a crazy amount of research from the 2024 season of College GameDay to discover the answer to this.

As it turns out, this is much better as a TV jinx than an actual betting strategy. If you bet one unit on the opposing moneyline for every 2024 College GameDay consensus pick, you’d finish conference championship week down about five units.

I also checked to see if there was any value in fading a College GameDay prediction consensus in the point spread market. No dice there, either. Opposing team spread bets were 22-29 ATS with nine outright upsets.

I’ll continue to keep tabs on this trend in 2025 and beyond. But assuming the 2024 season is statistically representative of the larger GameDay betting trends, one of the best strategies available to bettors is actually to tail the show’s consensus picks.

At 29-22, or roughly 57%, this is a moderately profitable sports betting return.