ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot will kick off the 2012 season on Saturday, Sept. 1 in Arlington, Texas for the Alabama vs. Michigan football game.
The show will begin at 9 a.m. ET on ESPNU and will continue on ESPN at 10 a.m. ET.
Gameday’s set, which has a new look for the 2012 season, will be located just outside Cowboys Stadium.
Hosted by Chris Fowler, GameDay will once again feature Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack during the 10 a.m. – noon hours on ESPN. Samantha Steele joins the first hour on ESPNU with Pollack, and will also contribute reports, interviews and features throughout the final two hours with reporter Tom Rinaldi.
The highly anticipated game, which kicks off at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, will feature two preseason Top Ten teams. Alabama, the 2012 BCS National Champion, is ranked 2nd in the nation in the USA Today Sports Coaches Poll while the Michigan Wolverines are ranked 8th.
Alabama and Michigan have played three times and all three meetings occurred in bowl games. The last match-up was in the 2000 Orange Bowl. Michigan won that game 35-34.
ESPN also announced that their one-hour special College GameDay Preview Show Built by The Home Depot will air on Saturday, Aug. 25 at noon. It will also feature Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, and Desmond Howard.