GAINESVILLE, Fla. – ESPN announced on Saturday that its College GameDay show will emanate from Jacksonville next weekend, the site of the Florida-Georgia game at TIAA Bank Stadium. The No. 11 Gators (6-1/4-1 SEC) and the No. 8-ranked Bulldogs (6-1/4-1 SEC) will meet in a key Southeastern Conference matchup.
The SEC Network also announced that its traveling pregame show, SEC Nation, is headed to Jacksonville, Fla. for the rivalry game. This is the first time that the two shows have ever chosen to broadcast from the same game for a regular season game.
The series between Florida and Georgia dates back to 1915 and the Bulldogs hold a 50-43-2 all-time advantage. In Jacksonville, UGA holds a slight 44-40-1 lead in the series over the Gators. Since 1990, Florida is 21-7 against UGA and UF has won three of the past four meetings.
Saturday's matchup marks the first time
since 2012 that Florida (currently No. 11) and Georgia (currently No. 8) will meet when they are both ranked inside the top 12.
The show will air from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on ESPN. Fans are encouraged to tailgate alongside the show.
More logistics for the show will be announced later this week.
Florida will be making its 38th appearance on GameDay and will be coming to Jacksonville for the Florida-Georgia game for the first time since Oct. 29, 2005 when the No. 16 Gators defeated the No. 4 Bulldogs, 14-10. Overall, this will be the show's fourth appearance in Jacksonville for this annual matchup.
Those 38 appearances on the sport's marquee show is third highest total in the country, trailing only Ohio State and Alabama with 42 appearances each, respectively.
The Gators are 24-13 (.649) when being featured on the GameDay and UF was last on the program on Sept. 24, 2016 in Knoxville. UF's 64.9% win percentage ranks fourth among schools that have been featured on the show at least 10 times.
Since 1993, College GameDay has been television's definitive and comprehensive college football studio show and has traveled most weeks on college Saturdays to the day's big game and has been met by large and enthusiastic crowds. Hosted by Rece Davis, GameDay features Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, David Pollack and Maria Taylor during the 9 a.m. – noon hours on ESPN.
In addition, Tom Rinaldi and Gene Wojakowski report and produce features for the College Gameday.
Host and UF Alum Laura Rutledge is joined at the SEC Nation desk by Jacksonville native, Heisman Award winner and Gator Great Tim Tebow, along with former LSU defensive lineman Marcus Spears and ESPN radio's Paul Finebaum. This marks Tebow, Spears and Finebaum's fifth season with the show, and their third-consecutive SEC Network trip to the Florida-Georgia football game.
SEC Nation reporter Lauren Sisler will also travel with the show and report from a variety of game day festivities throughout.
Saturday's game marks Florida's 14th appearance on the SEC Nation.
Kickoff against Georgia is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on CBS.
