President Donald Trump will be in Knoxville this Saturday to attend the Tennessee Volunteers’ SEC opener against the top-ranked Texas Longhorns at Neyland Stadium, according to multiple reports confirmed by the White House Press Office.
The Vols will face Texas at noon ET on Saturday, and the game will air on ABC. Trump’s attendance will coincide with ESPN’s College GameDay broadcast from the University of Tennessee campus.
The Tennessee-Texas matchup will be Trump’s ninth college football game attended across his two terms in office.
The Vols enter Saturday’s game 3-0 overall after opening the season with wins over Furman, Georgia Tech, and Kennesaw State. Tennessee defeated Furman 56-9, Georgia Tech 45-24, and Kennesaw State 42-9.
ESPN’s College GameDay will originate from the lawn of Ayres Hall from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. ET Saturday before moving inside Neyland Stadium for the final hour from 11 a.m. to noon.
Rece Davis will host the program alongside analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, and former Alabama head coach Nick Saban. Pete Thamel, “Stanford Steve” Coughlin, Jen Lada, and Jess Sims will also participate in the broadcast.
ESPN programming will begin Friday, with The Pat McAfee Show scheduled from noon to 3:00 p.m. inside Neyland Stadium. Bussin’ & Pate On-Campus will air from Ayres Hall from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., followed by College Football Live from 3:30 to 4 p.m.
On Saturday, the Hill will open at 5:00 a.m., while the College GameDay pit will open at 6:30 a.m. Countdown to GameDay will begin at 8:20 a.m. on ESPN’s social and digital platforms.
Neyland Stadium is sold out for the 30th consecutive game, with Tennessee holding its Checker Neyland promotion for Saturday’s matchup.
Trump’s attendance also comes as Congress considers the Protect College Sports Act, legislation addressing issues including name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation and revenue sharing in college athletics. The U.S. Senate recently advanced the legislation through procedural votes, with another vote potentially coming this week.
In a post last month, Trump called the Protect College Sports Act “a great Bill” and urged the Senate to pass it. He said the legislation would protect women’s sports and other college athletic programs.
Trump also posted last week that the situation involving NIL in college sports was “out of control” and called for caps on payments. He said he looked forward to a final Senate vote and subsequent consideration by the House.
OutKick Founder Clay Travis, who was the first to report on Trump’s anticipated attendance at Saturday’s game in Knoxville, has suggested the Protect College Sports Act may be part of the reason Trump is attending Saturday’s game.
Tennessee and Texas have met three times previously, with Texas holding a 2-1 advantage. The Longhorns won the most recent meeting, 36-13, in the 1969 Cotton Bowl. Saturday’s matchup will be the first regular-season meeting between the programs.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
