ESPN’s College GameDay is reportedly headed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for Week 1 of the 2026 college football season.
The show will broadcast from Baton Rouge for the season-opening showdown between Clemson and LSU, according to a report from On3’s Pete Nakos.
The two teams will kick off their respective 2026 campaigns on Sept. 5 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. The kickoff time has yet to be announced.
The 2026 opener will mark Clemson’s first trip to Baton Rouge and Clemson’s first time opening a season in an SEC venue since opening its 2016 national championship season with a 19-13 win at Auburn.
Of course, it will also be Lane Kiffin’s first game as LSU’s head coach after he was officially hired in late November to replace Brian Kelly, who was fired in October.
“I know Lane professionally,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said in December. “We’ve text many times over the years. He’s reached out different times, questions, or whatever. So, obviously he’s a great coach, and that’s a great program. When that time comes, it’ll be a great matchup.”
Kiffin also recently commented on the matchup against Clemson and Swinney, when Kiffin was asked for his thoughts on playing a team like Clemson in the opening game – on LSU’s home field – and how that resonates with Kiffin’s players and staff as they prepare all summer for the matchup.
“Fair question. That just seems so far away from me, from a work standpoint, of how much we do every day compared to how long that is,” Kiffin said. “Really cool in that way to have an exciting premier program to open with at home. Not being on the road for a first game, that’s exciting, having never coached in here on the home side like many of our coaches. So, that’s exciting. But that’s a long ways to go.”
“Obviously, a premier program, and Dabo’s won as much as anybody in college football,” Kiffin added. “Probably more than anybody active.”
Clemson and LSU faced one another at neutral sites in postseason play four times before the two sets of Tigers met in Clemson in the 2025 season opener for their first regular season, on-campus meeting in series history – what was a top-10 matchup that saw LSU win, 17-10, at Memorial Stadium.
LSU leads the all-time series against Clemson 4-1, with Clemson’s lone win being a dramatic 25-24 victory in the 2012 Peach Bowl.
Clemson is currently an 11.5-point underdog against LSU, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Clemson concluded the 2025 campaign with a 7-6 record, capped off by a 22-10 loss to Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl, while LSU went 7-6 as well and finished the year with a 38-35 loss to Houston in the Texas Bowl.
The last time a Clemson game was featured on College GameDay came back on August 31, 2024, when the Clemson vs. Georgia game from Atlanta. It was a top 15 matchup, as Georgia ranked No. 1 and Clemson was ranked No. 14. The last time Clemson hosted College GameDay was on October 1, 2022 against NC State. It was a top-10 matchup that saw the Tigers beat the Wolfpack, 30-20, at Memorial Stadium in Clemson.