Did Nate Bargatze attend Vanderbilt University? Comedian named guest picker for College GameDay

This weekend’s ESPN College GameDay show will be live from the University of Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee ahead of the day’s college football action.

Pat McAfee and the rest of the panel will be looking ahead at the day’s games, which particularly focus on the Vanderbilt Commodores’ road trip to the Missouri Tigers. This weekend will be the first time that the GameDay show has been broadcast live from the Vanderbilt campus since 2008.

The Commodores have started the season with a 6-1 overall record and the No. 10 seed school is looking for a first victory over the Tigers since 2019. With optimism high around the program ESPN will welcome a loyal Commodores fan onto the show for the game, comedian Nate Bargatze.

Bargatze was the highest-grossing stand-up comedian of 2024, selling more than a million tickets for his wildly successful live shows. He is a lifelong Commodores fan but he didn’t go to school there. Instead, he has family connections to Valderbilt that have stayed with him from youth.

His mother, Carol, worked in the ticket office for the Vanderbilt Commodores when Nate was young, offering him a first introduction to the school. But the real influence came from his second cousin, Ronnie Bargatze, a three-sport college athlete. Ronnie went on to become basketball coach at Vanderbilt and enjoyed a successful career in the sport, winning induction to the TSSAA Hall of Fame in 2018.

Nate said of Ronnie: “He coached at Vandy in the ’70s, then became a color commentator. So we grew up being around Vanderbilt a whole lot."

"We had some ties to Vandy; plus, it was before the Titans were here. All my friends are University of Tennessee fans, but I stayed local and just became a huge Vanderbilt fan. All my life I’ve loved sports, so that was basically where all my attention went."

Get your game on! Whether you’re into NFL touchdowns, NBA buzzer-beaters, world-class soccer goals, or MLB home runs, our app has it all.

Dive into live coverage, expert insights, breaking news, exclusive videos, and more – plus, stay updated on the latest in current affairs and entertainment. Download now for all-access coverage, right at your fingertips – anytime, anywhere.