College GameDay Invades Austin as No. 1 Ohio State Meets No. 4 Texas With Glen Powell on the Desk

ESPN’s College GameDay rolled into Austin on Saturday morning, setting up on the LBJ Presidential Library lawn at the University of Texas ahead of the biggest game of Week 2’s slate: No. 1 Ohio State visiting No. 4 Texas. The three-hour pregame show, airing 9 a.m. to noon ET on ESPN, ESPNU and Disney+, marked the 501st road broadcast in the program’s 40th season, and it arrived with a hometown storyline that made it one of the most talked-about GameDay stops of the young season.

College GameDay has built its reputation over four decades by chasing the sport’s marquee matchups, and Austin has hosted the crew before under similarly high stakes. The last time GameDay visited Texas for a top-five clash, in 2022 against Alabama, actor Glen Powell served as celebrity guest picker and went 7-5 on his selections. Powell, an Austin native completing his undergraduate degree at UT this spring, returned to the desk for Saturday’s show — his second turn as guest picker, this time with even more on the line as his alma mater hosts the reigning national power.

Ohio State-Texas Headlines a Loaded Saturday

The GameDay set arrived just hours ahead of a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, where Texas enters as a narrow home favorite despite dropping last year’s meeting to the Buckeyes. Oddsmakers had the Longhorns at -1.5 with the total sitting at 49.5, a number that reflects how much Arch Manning’s development has shifted the conversation around this rivalry in just twelve months. Bettors weighing the number this week could check Texas sportsbooks for the latest lines before kickoff. Ohio State still carries the No. 1 ranking and the deepest roster in the sport, but Texas has home-field juice and a quarterback many analysts believe has taken a legitimate leap.

National panels were split. CBS Sports’ roundtable of writers leaned toward Texas covering the number, while SportsLine’s simulation-based model and several handicappers flagged the over as the more confident lean, pointing to a shootout between two of the season’s top quarterback performances. Kirk Herbstreit, part of the on-site GameDay analyst crew, has been among those emphasizing how much better Texas’ offensive line and receiving corps look compared to last year’s meeting. The presence of Jeremiah Smith and Cam Coleman on Ohio State’s side versus Manning’s improved supporting cast in Austin gave the broadcast plenty to dissect before kickoff.

What GameDay’s Stop Means for the Season

GameDay’s decision to set up in Austin for a second time in four years underscores how quickly the Big Ten-SEC crossover matchups have become appointment television. The show’s first two stops of the season — Baton Rouge for Clemson-LSU in Week 1, then Austin for Ohio State-Texas in Week 2 — both featured top-five programs, a sign that ESPN is leaning into premium nonconference and cross-conference showdowns earlier in the year than in past seasons. Bettors and fans alike have taken notice of the broader slate too, with No. 2 Oregon’s blowout line and No. 6 Oklahoma also drawing significant attention across the same Saturday windows. Anyone shopping the Ohio State-Texas total against the market can run the numbers through an expected value calculator before locking in a bet.

For Texas, the stakes extend beyond one game. A win over the nation’s top-ranked team would validate the offseason buzz around Manning and reset the College Football Playoff picture just two weeks into the year. For Ohio State, avoiding a road trap in a loud, sold-out environment keeps the Buckeyes on track as the presumptive favorite. Whatever happens under the lights in Austin, GameDay’s crew — and the record crowd expected on the LBJ lawn — will have helped set the tone for what could be one of the sport’s defining games of September.