ESPN College GameDay destination revealed for Week 12

After this week’s trip to Lubbock for BYU at Texas Tech, ESPN College GameDay announced its next destination. The show will head to Pittsburgh for Notre Dame at Pitt, according to a release from ACC Communications on Sunday.

Saturday’s visit to Jones AT&T Stadium meant College GameDay saw a Top-10 showdown. Both Texas Tech and BYU entered the matchup looking to cement their places in the Big 12 race. The two teams appeared in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, as well, meaning there was plenty at stake.

Ahead of kickoff, a Texas Tech legend joined the show. Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes served as the celebrity guest picker on the program during his team’s bye week, maintaining his strong presence around his alma mater and supporting the Red Raiders however he can.

Saturday marked College GameDay’s first trip to Texas Tech since 2008 for one of the most memorable Red Raiders wins in recent memory. Michael Crabtree famously hauled in a last-second touchdown to stun No. 1-ranked Texas, 39-33, in Lubbock.

This past week’s show also marked the second straight week ESPN aired College GameDay for free on the ESPN app and on Pat McAfee’s X account. The decision came amid the ongoing carriage dispute between Disney and YouTube TV, which led to a blackout of ESPN networks on the streaming service. The channels went dark Oct. 30, just before the end of the carriage deal, and was not available for Week 10 of college football.

In Week 10, College GameDay drew 1.2 million unique viewers from McAfee’s account, ESPN announced. Full data for Week 11 will be available in the coming days.

Inside College GameDay’s TV ratings surge

Even despite the YouTube TV situation last week, College GameDay is still in the midst of a record season from a TV ratings standpoint. The show is averaging 2.7 million viewers per show this year, which is a 25% increase year-over-year. On linear last week, an average of 2.0 million viewers tuned in for the show from Salt Lake City ahead of Cincinnati at Utah.

College GameDay is one part of ESPN’s TV ratings success story this year. ABC is emerging as the biggest winner and did so again in Week 10. Georgia’s victory over Florida in the rivalry game drew 7.8 million viewers on average, becoming the most-watched game on the slate.

All told, ABC has aired 21 of the 25 most-watched games of the year, led by Georgia’s overtime victory against Tennessee in Week 3. That matchup averaged 12.6 million viewers.