BYU faithful turn Provo into a national stage for ESPN College GameDay
Oct 17, 2026, 11:32 AM
PROVO – BYU football faithful arrived early and loud Saturday morning, turning ESPN’s College GameDay set into a sea of blue for the show’s first visit to Provo since 2009.
Thousands of fans packed the set ahead of No. 8 BYU’s top-10 showdown with No. 2 Notre Dame, bringing the chants, signs and energy that have long defined College GameDay parties. For BYU, the moment was bigger than a pregame show. It was a national spotlight on a program, a campus and a fanbase eager to show that Provo belongs among college football’s most electric environments.
“First, we gotta just pay homage to this crowd right here,” GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit said, gesturing toward the early-morning crowd. “They’ve been out here camping out since, like, Tuesday or Wednesday. We really appreciate you guys and everything that you bring to college football. This is one of the more underrated atmospheres, to me, in the country. And one of the more intimidating atmospheres we have in college football.”
Look at this crowd…this is one of the most underrated environments in CFB!! 👏👏 https://t.co/7kTQPvMvHl
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) October 17, 2026
The crowd often overwhelmed the broadcast with chants of “BYU! BYU! BYU!” as fans waved signs and filled the screen throughout the morning show.
Herbstreit later doubled down on his praise in a post on X, writing, “Look at this crowd … this is one of the most underrated environments in CFB!!”
The scene set the stage for one of the biggest games ever played in Provo. BYU hosts Notre Dame at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium for the first top-10 matchup ever held there.
GOOD MORNING FROM PROVO, UTAH ⛰️
College GameDay is LIVE from BYU ahead of a top-10 showdown between the Cougars and Notre Dame 🔥 https://t.co/rsGIScZ0aY
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 17, 2026
The undefeated Cougars are seeking their third win over the Irish, but the challenge is steep. Notre Dame enters the game 6-0 and leads the all-time series 7-2. The Irish are making only their third trip to LaVell Edwards Stadium and their first since 2004.
Both programs have been among the nation’s best over the past three seasons. Since 2024, Notre Dame is 30-4, while BYU is 28-4.
“This will be a great test for Notre Dame to come in here and deal with this because it’ll be their greatest challenge up to this point,” Herbstreit said.
By the time the show wrapped, Provo’s message was clear. BYU fans had waited 17 years to welcome College GameDay back, and they made sure the country heard them. Long before kickoff, the Cougar faithful had already delivered one of the day’s defining performances.
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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in the NFL, Locals in MLB, and the Utah State Aggies. Follow Brian’s coverage here. Find Brian on X, Instagram, and BlueSky at @bpreece24.
Parts of this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team.
