“I wish it were being played next week,” Fitting said. “Next week is looking grim.”

ESPN will still dominate the college football day — 33 games will be shown on ESPN networks and on ABC — in part because of the scene-setting dominance of its roving studio show. Wherever “GameDay” goes, it is a major campus event, drawing thousands of partisan fans but also a major logistical operation. Top universities receive a letter each August from Fitting that outlines what “GameDay” will take to their campus and what it will need.

“As the show’s popularity and on-site attendance continue to grow,” Fitting wrote, in part, “we wanted to formally document our expectations in order to make a GameDay visit the best possible experience for your fans, our sponsors, the show’s production personnel and your school’s football program.”

Some colleges are veteran hosts. Some have never done it and might get about barely a week’s warning that “GameDay” wants to visit. For all, the national exposure to about two million viewers on Saturdays, augmented by reports from the set on Friday, is irresistible. Because of the interest in the Alabama-Texas A&M game, those reports began Thursday from College Station.

“It’s one of the things you can’t say no to,” said Van Hilderbrand, an associate athletic director at Clemson, the “GameDay” host on Aug. 31, the first Saturday of the season. In 2006, Clemson received the standard five-day notice that ESPN wanted to take “GameDay” to its campus. But this year, it was told of its selection on Aug. 1. Both times, the show emanated from the university’s front lawn.

“The week afterward, we didn’t want to see them again,” Hilderbrand said with a laugh. The only problem he had with ESPN was Lee Corso, one of the “GameDay” analysts, picking Georgia to beat Clemson that day. Clemson won, 38-35.