ESPN to host three women's basketball 'College GameDay' shows, including Lady Vols vs. UConn

Whenever people ask former Lady Vols basketball player Andraya Carter what her favorite part of working at ESPN is, she knows what she's going to say.

It was the "College GameDay" show for Tennessee at South Carolina last season, which was the first time in 11 years ESPN's pregame show featured a women's basketball game.

After the success of last season's show, "College GameDay" is heading to three games this season.

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The first will feature the storied rivalry of Tennessee and UConn on Jan. 26 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). The show will air live from Thompson-Boling Arena at 7 p.m. Elle Duncan again will host alongside Carter, Rebecca Lobo, Carolyn Peck and Holly Rowe. Lobo and Rowe will be on call for the game with Ryan Ruocco.

The other two "College GameDay" shows will be announced at a later date.

"It's such a great conversation with these incredible women that I've looked up to for so long that I'm still just flabbergasted, amazed that I'm on the desk with them," Carter said. "It's a perfect combination, in my opinion, to have studio and be next to such incredible women and such an amazing team and great production in the arena while a great game is going on, essentially, behind us."

Tennessee and UConn hosted the only two editions of "College GameDay" for a women's basketball game prior to last season's show – at UConn 2010 and Tennessee in 2011. The Lady Vols will be involved for a third time and will host the show for the first time in 12 years.

"It just feels right to have 'College GameDay' here to showcase one of the most historic rivalries in sports," Lady Vols coach Kellie Harper said, "and I know the atmosphere inside Thompson-Boling Arena and the energy of our fans will be incredible."

Besides featuring a historic rivalry, the matchup is also part of ESPN's annual "We Back Pat" initiative, honoring Pat Summitt. The "We Back Pat" week brings awareness to the Pat Summitt Foundation, which is dedicated to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.

“We are thrilled to continue integrating women’s college basketball into the 'College GameDay' brand with additional shows this season,” ESPN vice president of production Patricia Lowry said. “UConn-Tennessee is one of the preeminent rivalries in women’s college basketball and Pat Summitt remains the sport’s north star, while Geno Auriemma continues his historic run with the Huskies.

"Having the first show of 2023 at Tennessee for this matchup while supporting 'We Back Pat', with one of Summitt’s former players, Kellie (Jolly) Harper, now leading the Lady Vol program, it couldn’t be more fitting.”

Carter remembers looking around after last year's show ended at Colonial Life Arena. Everyone involved wanted it to do it again – and they wanted multiple shows, not just one.

According to Peck, Lowry was behind the push. Peck said she and other women's basketball analysts are willing to do whatever they can to have more shows, because "women's basketball is a product that deserves it."

"On the men's side, they do 'College GameDay' what is it, every week? It's a very consistent staple," Carter said. "It's a nod to our leadership to be willing to recognize the excitement around it and bring it back three times as much. I think it's just a beautiful representation of where women's basketball is going."

Last season's show put women's basketball on a great stage. But Peck said it also makes sense business-wise with the continued growth of the game.

"This has been an untapped revenue area of women's basketball," Peck said. "Every city that I have ever gone to starting out, I would run into fans that say, 'I wish there was more coverage of women's games. We want to be able to see more women's games.' Now, you're able to see more women's games and people are getting what they want – because there is an audience for it."

There's no shortage of talent on both teams and wealth of storylines to talk about, but Carter has a personal connection to the rivalry. She played at Tennessee from 2012-16 and considered going to UConn in high school.

"It means a lot to cover two historical programs that have had so many great games in the past and games that I grew up watching," Carter said. "It's just a great rivalry. It's fun, it's exciting. I know the fans at Thompson-Boling Arena will show up for that one, for sure."