LSU football to host ESPN's College Gameday for Clemson in season opener

There's already been plenty of hype around the Lane Kiffin era with LSU football. ESPN now wants to help give the kickoff of his tenure with the Tigers more of a spotlight.

College Gameday will reportedly head to Baton Rouge to highlight the 2026 season-opening showdown between LSU and Clemson, according to On3. The game will be Kiffin's first game as the Tigers head coach.

ESPN is expected to make an official announcement after 4 p.m. CT on College Gameday being at the LSU-Clemson game.

The game is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 5 with a game time to be announced at a later date, although many anticipate it being a night game inside Tiger Stadium for Kiffin's first game.

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LSU opened last season at Clemson and escaped with the 17-10 victory in the top-10 clash, marking the only time LSU won a season opener under former head coach Brian Kelly.

Since the SEC released its conference schedule for the 2026 season and it pitted Kiffin and LSU against his former team Ole Miss in both teams' league opener in Week 3, there has been speculation that ESPN's College Gameday would be in Oxford, Mississippi for that matchup Sept. 19. So there's a chance LSU would be featured twice on College Gameday in the season's first three weeks.

Kiffin spent the last six seasons as the Ole Miss head coach, helping guide the program to its first College Football Playoff appearance last season. Kiffin, however, was not able to coach the Rebels in the CFP as he accepted the LSU job shortly after the regular season ended.

After Kiffin's departure, current Rebels head coach Pete Golding coached the team to the national semifinals where it lost to Miami, 31-27, in the Fiesta Bowl.

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: ESPN's College Gameday to be at LSU football-Clemson matchup in Week 1