ESPN's 'College GameDay': The Cadillac Three, Darius Rucker & Lainey Wilson take the torch

‘College GameDay’ celebrates 30th season on the road with opening anthem refresh, as Big & Rich pass the mic for ‘Comin' To Your City’

Press Release

ESPN’s “College GameDay Built by The Home Depot” returns for its 37th season this week, and 30th anniversary of being on the road visiting college campuses across the country. To celebrate the milestone anniversary, college football’s premier pregame show will debut a refresh of its iconic "Comin to Your City" opening anthem at the start of its week 1 show in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday, Sept. 2 (9 a.m. ET). The song is available now on all DSPs.

Click here to listen to "Comin' to Your City."

After voicing the opening track for the past 16 years, country music duo Big & Rich shared last week that they’re passing the torch to a new group of talented artists. The theme song, "Comin’ to Your City" – written by Rich, (Big) Alphin and Paul Worley – was the title track of Big & Rich’s second studio album in 2005 and climbed to No. 21 on the U.S. radio charts. “College GameDay’s” version includes shout-outs to various college football teams and traditions, which do not appear in the original recording of the song.

On Monday, The Cadillac Three, Darius Rucker and Lainey Wilson revealed they are taking the reins for the “GameDay” opener refresh, premiering Saturday. Wilson, Rucker and the trio of Jaren Johnston, Neil Mason and Kelby Ray will now sing and put their own spin on Big & Rich’s iconic song.

"Recording and performing the new ESPN ‘College GameDay’ anthem is a surreal and awesome opportunity,” TC3 frontman Johnston admitted. “We grew up watching ‘College GameDay’ as kids and have continued the tradition every Saturday since we've been in a band together. ‘GameDay’ is on the TV on the bus every weekend, and now we have even more reason to make sure the satellite works wherever we are parked!"

Longtime fans of the show, The Cadillac Three brought the three musical acts together to add to the legacy of “GameDay” and college football with their updated version of the anthem. Rucker, who will make an on-site appearance at “College GameDay” this weekend before his beloved South Carolina Gamecocks take the field in Charlotte, has a deep-rooted past with the pregame show, even appearing as a guest picker in 2012. Wilson is a rising country music star and the Academy of Country Music's reigning "Female Artist of the Year."

“College GameDay” returns for the 2023 season with its week 1 stop at Romare Bearden Park in Uptown Charlotte on Saturday (9 a.m., ESPN) ahead of the “Battle of the Carolinas” primetime matchup between South Carolina and No. 21 North Carolina (7:30 p.m., ABC).

Additional details on “GameDay’s” week 1 show are available here.