College GameDay reveals destination for Week 1 and it’s a doozy
By John Buhler
ESPN’s College GameDay will be in Columbus Week 1 for Notre Dame taking on Ohio State.
Columbus will be at the center of the college football world on Labor Day Weekend, as ESPN’s College GameDay will be there to take in the non-conference spectacle that is Notre Dame at Ohio State.
Though there are several great matchups on tap opening weekend in the sport, it is hard to pass up the two most consistently strong northern teams going at it head-to-head right from the jump. Ohio State should make the College Football Playoff and could win its second national title since 2014. As for Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish are being led by a former Buckeye in Marcus Freeman.
Kickoff from Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio will be at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 3.
https://twitter.com/collegegameday/status/1526608573500993536
ESPN’s College GameDay will be in Columbus for Notre Dame at Ohio State
On paper, anything short of a Big Ten Championship and a College Football Playoff appearance will be seen as a massive failure for Ryan Day’s team this fall. Though the Alabama Crimson Tide are arguably the favorites to win the national title, Ohio State is on a short list of only a handful of teams that could realistically knock off Nick Saban’s team. There are no excuses for the Buckeyes.
As for the Golden Domers, Freeman inherits a Notre Dame program that is in fantastic shape. His predecessor Brian Kelly had Notre Dame operating as close to the glory days of the Lou Holtz era in South Bend as possible. Though Freeman is way more likable of a guy, he needs to be more than just an ace recruiter for the Irish to sustain their level of success in the sport’s evolving landscape.
Ultimately, this is a game where all expectations are on the Buckeyes to win. Though it might mean an 0-2 start at Notre Dame for Freeman, Ohio State and Oklahoma State are two playoff-caliber programs. A win in Columbus would be massive for him. Then again, Ohio State did drop a critical non-conference game early in the season a year ago to a so-so Pac-12 team in Oregon…
It may be two marquee college football brands, but all the pressure is on Ohio State in this game.
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