ESPN College GameDay heading to Durham for Duke-Notre Dame

Week 5 is full of exciting matchups but ESPN College GameDay has zeroed in on one. Durham will be the site of next Saturday’s show, with Rece Davis and the crew highlighting Duke facing off against Notre Dame. While it might not be a conference showdown, there is going to be plenty on the line for both teams.

Duke currently sports an undefeated record, with the Week 1 win against Clemson being the biggest. There will be a serious push for the ACC Championship from head coach Mike Elko. If the Blue Devils can get a win over Notre Dame, maybe the College Football Playoff conversations will begin to pop up.

To make matters better, College GameDay has never been to Durham. In fact, Duke has never even been a part of the show on a neutral field or as a visiting team. While they might be used to the basketball version coming to town, Saturday will be a historic day for the football program.

You can check out the entire announcement from ESPN here.

FOR THE FIRST TIME … DURHAM HERE WE COME! 🗣️

Week 5: @NDFootball at @DukeFOOTBALL 👏 pic.twitter.com/pbBeeBS0MG

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 24, 2023

Notre Dame is going to be coming off a heartbreaking loss against Ohio State. A last-minute drive from Buckeyes QB Kyle McCord saw the folks of South Bend leave Notre Dame Stadium in disbelief. Even so, the long-term goals of the season are still intact, and adding a win against Duke would be great for the resume.

The game itself is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET, with ABC having the broadcast. The crew has not been announced but you would have to imagine Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Holly Rowe will be at Wallace Wade Stadium.

Either way, having CollegeGame Day in town will be huge for Duke and the city of Durham.

Duke, Notre Dame have recent history with ACC agreement

Notre Dame has an agreement with the ACC, playing a few teams from the conference on an annual basis. Duke is going to be one of those this season and nobody truly expected a ranked matchup to take place — let alone ESPN College GameDay to be in town.

There is some recent history between the two programs, playing four times since the turn of the century. Notre Dame has won three of the four matchups and five of the seven throughout history. However, Marcus Freeman has not been in charge of the program yet — Brian Kelly was for the last three games.