BRISTOL, Conn. – ESPN has announced plans for the first three locations for the popular Saturday show, College GameDay Built by The Home Depot, along with additions to the show. Most notably former Georgia All-American David Pollack will join the show as a contributor and each show will contain a feature from the Emmy-award-winning Tom Rinaldi.
For the first time since 2007, the show will start its season in a location other than Atlanta, Ga. The 2011 show is slated to kick off in Arlington, Texas outside of Cowboys Stadium for the much anticipated week one game between LSU and Oregon.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of ESPN’s announcement was the return of Lee Corso who’s retirement from the network had been rumored since December. Corso, a 75-year old who is known for dawning the mascot head of his weekly pick, suffered a minor stroke in 2009. The former coach is the only member of the GameDay crew who has been with the show since it started 25 years ago.
The addition of David Pollack brings firsthand experience of the Southeastern Conference to the commentators table this season. Pollack will be featured in Friday segments of College Football Live airing from the GameDay broadcast site and will join Erin Andrews in the ESPNU College GameDay hour that airs from 8 – 9 a.m. Central, along with joining as a contributor during the traditional two-hour show.
“I’ve been a huge fan of College GameDay for years, and when I joined ESPN I hoped to become a part of the show,” Pollack said. “It is very humbling to join the crew and work on the best show in college football.”
In the second week of the season the show will head to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the heated Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry. After the stop in Michigan the gang will head to Tallahassee, Fla., for a matchup between potentially two top-ten teams in Florida State and Oklahoma.
While the network has only announced locations for the first three weeks of the season, Tuscaloosa looks to be the odds-on-favorite to host the show in week four with a potential matchup of two top-ten teams in Alabama and Arkansas. In its previous two trips to Tuscaloosa, GameDay has set up shop in the North Endzone Plaza (commonly referred to as the Walk of Champions).
The 25th season of College GameDay will begin Sept. 3 at 8 a.m. CT on ESPNU before switching over to ESPN at 9 a.m.
