November 5, 2026, 1:07 p.m. ET
An off-the-beaten-path choice will be the guests’ choice for “College GameDay” on Saturday, November 7 before the Miami-Notre Dame football game.
Comedian Jason Sudeikis was selected to make game picks on ESPN’s pregame show. Sudeikis rose to fame as a cast member of “Saturday Night Live” in the late 2000s and early 2010s before achieving international fame as the title character on the comedy series “Ted Lasso.”
Although Sudeikis’ ties to the world of Notre Dame are not known, the actor went on “The Pat McAfee Show” Thursday to explain his Irish roots.
“It’s big in my family,” Sudeikis said. “Growing up, my parents are from Chicago – my mother from the South Side. Her father, my grandfather, was a Notre Dame graduate.”
Sudeikis also mentioned that he had an uncle who graduated from Notre Dame in 1975, while another uncle – the late comedian George Wendt – also spent time as a student at Notre Dame.
As for Sudeikis’ personal connection?
“And then I went to basketball camp there in 6th grade,” he joked. “…Digger Phelps, we disagreed. I didn’t have what it took.”
On Saturday, it will come full circle for Sudeikis, who will travel to the match with several members of his family.
“My very first Notre Dame football game that I attended was October 15, 1988 – the ‘Catholics vs. Convicts’ game, as it was called back then,” Sudeikis said. “…I went to that game with my dad, my uncles, my grandpa who I talked about. My dad bought me the t-shirt from a guy sitting right in front of us.”
ESPN’s “College GameDay” broadcast will air live from the Library Lawn between Notre Dame Stadium and Touchdown Jesus on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. The battle between No. 1 Miami and No. 11 Notre Dame will begin at 7:30 p.m. that evening.
Austin Hough is a sports editor with USA Today Co.’s Center for Community Journalism, overseeing coverage of high school sports and Notre Dame athletics for five Indiana newspapers. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @AustinRHough. Hough can be emailed toahough@usatodayco.com.
Gn sports
