The growing hype surrounding the Alabama-Tennessee game just gained a sideshow.

ESPN announced College GameDay is headed to Knoxville for the second time this season. The three-hour pregame show will originate from the Tennessee campus ahead of the 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff in Neyland Stadium.

This will actually be the first time GameDay has aired from Knoxville ahead of an Alabama-Tennessee game. Only game between the Crimson Tide and Vols saw the GameDay crew in town, the 1995 game Tennessee won 41-14 in Birmingham.

The show has traveled to Tennessee 10 times since beginning the on-location broadcasts in 1994 but never when Alabama was in town.

GameDay was in Knoxville on Sept. 24 before the Vols beat Florida.

Alabama and Tennessee will meet as top-10 teams for the first time since 2016 when the Tide left Knoxville a 49-10 winner.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.