College football and country music go way back. With the 2025-26 season kicking off in August, Darius Rucker, Lainey Wilson, and the Cadillac Three joined forces for ESPN’s College GameDay classic “Comin’ To Your City.” With Week 8 marking a good old-fashioned SEC showdown between Ole Miss and Georgia, College GameDay is heading to Athens this week. Before the game kicks off Saturday, Oct. 18, at Sanford Stadium, superstar duo Luke Combs and Bailey Zimmerman will team up to get the party started.
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College GameDay Announces Week 8 Performers
Previously collaborating on the chart-topping single “Backup Plan,” Luke Combs and Bailey Zimmerman represent the current country music “moment.” Releasing his debut album This One’s For You in 2017, Combs, 35, is the only country artist with four Diamond-certified songs.
Meanwhile Zimmerman, 25, has been tearing up the charts since debuting in 2023 with Religiously. Released in 2025, his sophomore effort, Different Night Same Rodeo, peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
All that said, college football fans are in for a treat with this duo taking the stage on Saturday. “College Gameday at a top 10 showdown & Luke Combs is performing? AWESOME,” declared one fan on X/Twitter.
WEEK 8: ATHENS 📍
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 12, 2025
We're headed south for @OleMissFB at @GeorgiaFootball with a special live performance from @baileyzimmerman and @lukecombs 🤩 pic.twitter.com/ghDVc30n6f
The fifth-ranked Rebels are looking to remain undefeated against their SEC rival, the ninth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. College GameDay kicks off at 9 a.m. Eastern on ESPN Saturday, Oct. 18.
[RELATED: This Luke Combs-Bailey Zimmerman Collab Started With a Single Text]
Luke Combs Is Going On Tour
College GameDay is far from fans’ only opportunity to see Luke Combs perform in the next year. After taking a step back from touring in 2025, the “Fast Car” hitmaker has a packed 2026 in store.
Combs kicks off his My Kinda Saturday Night Tour on March 21, 2026, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Aside from the United States, he will make stops in seven other countries, including Sweden, France, and Ireland.
Earlier this month, the former Entertainer of the Year dropped The Prequel. The three-song EP serves as a precursor to Combs’ sixth studio album, for which he has teased a 2026 release date.
Featured image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Stagecoach
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