College GameDay (football TV program)
College GameDay | |
---|---|
File:College gameday logo.gif | |
Starring | Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit |
Country of origin | United States |
Production | |
Running time | 2 hours |
Original release | |
Network | ESPN (1987-) |
Release | 1987 – Present |
College GameDay is an ESPN show covering college football. It first aired in 1987 with Bob Carpenter as host and Lee Corso and Beano Cook as analysts. Beginning as a more-or-less routine pre-game analysis of college football games, the show would undergo a radical transformation beginning in 1993 as the show began incorporating "live" broadcasts. The official name of the show is College GameDay built by The Home Depot. There is a separate radio broadcast, ESPN Radio College GameDay, on ESPN Radio.
Today, the only original cast member remaining is Lee Corso. Chris Fowler serves as host and Kirk Herbstreit, former Ohio State quarterback, serves as Corso's counterpart and foil. Craig James, currently with ESPN on ABC, was on the show in the mid 1990s. Desmond Howard and Rocket Ismail serve as frequent contributors. Steve Cyphers is usually featured as a reporter. Nick Lachey joined the crew as a contributor during the 2005 season. Doug Flutie joined in 2006. Discussions are often held between the GameDay cast and studio analysts, including Lou Holtz and Mark May. It's not uncommon for Auburn alumnus Charles Barkley to appear (via phone or at site) to discuss Tiger football.
GameDay began its 21st season on 2007-09-01 at Virginia Tech. The show is broadcast live for 2 hours, from 10am-noon ET. Starting with the 21st season, GameDay is presented in high-definition on ESPN HD.
Personalities
Current
- Chris Fowler: (Host, 1992-present)
- Lee Corso: (Analyst, 1987-present)
- Kirk Herbstreit: (Analyst, 1996-present)
- Desmond Howard: (Contributor, 200?-present)
- Raghib Ismail: (Contributor, 200?-present)
- Doug Flutie: (Contributor, 2006-present)
- Rece Davis: (Studio host and Fill-in host, 2000-present)
- Lou Holtz: (Studio analyst, 2005-present)
- Mark May: (Studio analyst, 200?-present)
Former
- Bob Carpenter: (Host, 1987-1991)
- Beano Cook: (Analyst, 1987-199?)
- Craig James: (Analyst, early to mid 1990s)
- Nick Lachey: (Contributor, 2005)
- Trev Alberts: (Studio analyst, 2003-2005)
History
In 1993, GameDay began broadcasting live from outside a stadium hosting a game most Saturdays. The selected stadium is usually hosting one of the biggest matchups of the day, regardless of whether the game airs on an ESPN network. The first show "on the road" took place at South Bend, Indiana for the match up between #2 Notre Dame and #1 FSU. The show takes on a festive tailgate party atmosphere, as thousands of fans gather behind the broadcast set, in view of the show's cameras. Many fans bring flags or hand-painted signs as well, and the school's cheerleaders and mascots often join in the celebration. Crowds at GameDay tapings are known to be quite boisterous and very spirited.
The show's current intro and theme music is performed by country music duo Big & Rich, who perform their 2005 crossover hit "Comin' to Your City" with revised lyrics that mention several top college teams and a guest appearance by Cowboy Troy.
Typically, the show will end with Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit issuing their predictions for that day's key matchups, finishing with the game to be played at the stadium hosting GameDay, for which Corso signifies his prediction by donning the head piece of the mascot of his predicted winner. On occasion, when no suitably important game is available, it will originate instead from the ESPN studios. (Herbstreit, who in 2006 became a game analyst, usually on ABC's Saturday Night Football, is not allowed to make picks for games at which he is assigned due to parent company Walt Disney Company's conflict of interest rules.)
College Football GameDay was also a source for many arguments regarding the purported East Coast bias: From 1993 until 2004, GameDay had only been to two regular season games on the entire West Coast (1998 at UCLA and 2000 at Oregon). Given the popularity of the show and the media coverage it brought to the highlighted game, teams and fans of the West Coast teams felt that the show was only magnifying the perceived problems with excess media focus on East, South and Midwest games; ESPN attributed its lack of West Coast games to the need for a very early start time (07:00 AM PST) and an alleged lack of high quality matchups.[1] Since the 2004 season the show has originated from West Coast/Pac-10 schools four times, nearly as many as the previous ten years.
The show's current primary sponsor is The Home Depot. The secondary sponsor for many of the featured segments is Pontiac.
The largest crowd ever to show up for the College GameDay telecast was on 2001-09-08 where 15,808 packed Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE.[2]
On 2006-11-04, Chris Fowler did not host the show for the first time in 16 years. Rece Davis, host of College Football Final filled in for him. Fowler was on assignment, hosting ESPN's coverage of the Breeders Cup from Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.
20th Anniversary Memorable Moments
During the 2006 season, as part of College GameDay's 20th year anniversary, they brought back some of the most unforgettable moments in the show's history. Some of the clips include:
- College GameDay Hits the Road: On 1993-11-13, College GameDay hits the road, after six years in the studio, to see the #2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the #1 Florida State Seminoles in "The Game of the Century". Lee Corso picks Florida State 31-30, but the end result was Notre Dame 31-24.
- Herbstreit Joins GameDay: On 1996-08-31, former Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Kirk Herbstreit joined the College GameDay crew, to complete the cast that hasn't changed since.
- Corso's First Mascot Head: On 1996-10-05, a tradition starts when Lee Corso picks Ohio State to beat Penn State by sporting Brutus Buckeye's mascot head. Since that day, every College GameDay has ended with Corso sporting the team's head gear, usually a mascot head or another headpiece when a team does not have a suited mascot, such as a Trojan-style helmet for USC or the signature winged helmet of Michigan. In recent years, however, many fans have seen Corso's pick as bad luck; hence, the crowd behind the GameDay set will often jeer Corso if he picks the home team to win the game.[citation needed]
Locations[3]
All game-time rankings are ESPN/USA Today (Coaches Poll). If a listing is blank, that week's show originated at the ESPN studios. The Ohio State University is the current leader (entering the first week of October of 2007) for the most times hosting the broadcast with 10 events. Florida (9) is currently second, although the Gators have appeared in the on-site game the most times (26). Florida State (21) is currently second. Auburn has appeared nine times, however, 10 were scheduled. One was rescheduled because of Hurricane Ivan.
1992-93
- December 1992-January 1, 1993: (Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana - ESPN Crew is live at the Sugar Bowl for the National Championship Game between #1 ranked Miami and #2 ranked Alabama. Alabama wins the game.
1993
- November 13: #1 Florida State at #2 Notre Dame
1994
- September 10: #6 Michigan at #3 Notre Dame
- September 17: #13 UCLA at #2 Nebraska
- October 8: #3 Florida State at #13 Miami
- October 15: #3 Penn State at #5 Michigan
- October 29: #2 Colorado at #3 Nebraska
- November 19: #6 Auburn at #4 Alabama (Birmingham, Alabama)
1995
- September 9: Georgia at #8 Tennessee
- September 16:
- September 23: #3 Texas A&M at #7 Colorado
- September 30: #4 Colorado at #10 Oklahoma
- October 7: Miami at #1 Florida State
- October 14: #6 Tennessee at #12 Alabama (Birmingham, Alabama)
- October 21: #5 Southern California at #17 Notre Dame
- October 28: #2 Nebraska at #7 Colorado
- November 4:
- November 11: Iowa at #5 Northwestern
- November 18: #17 Alabama at #21 Auburn
- November 25: #6 Florida State at #3 Florida
- January 2, 1996: Fiesta Bowl: #2 Florida vs. #1 Nebraska
1996
- September 14: #10 Michigan at #5 Colorado
- September 21: #4 Florida at #2 Tennessee
- September 28: #4 Ohio State at #5 Notre Dame
- October 5: #3 Penn State at #3 Ohio State
- October 12:
- October 19:
- October 26: #2 Ohio State at #20 Iowa
- November 2:
- November 9: #10 Alabama at #11 LSU (This is the show that led to the net being installed behind the set. Lee Corso picked Alabama to win and LSU fans were so upset by this they responded by throwing anything they could. One person threw a golf ball at Corso but missed. The only injury that day was a gameday crew member who suffered a minor cut. The golf ball is still retained by the LSU Athletic Department. In the end, Corso's prediction proved to be correct when Alabama won by a score of 26-0).
- November 16:
- November 23: Auburn at #15 Alabama (Birmingham, Alabama)
- November 30: #1 Florida at #2 Florida State
- January 2, 1997: Sugar Bowl: #1 Florida State vs #3 Florida
1997
- September 13: #7 Colorado at #13 Michigan
- September 20: #4 Tennessee at #1 Florida
- September 27:
- October 4: #8 Iowa at #7 Ohio State
- October 11: #1 Florida at #14 LSU
- October 18: #6 Florida at #7 Auburn
- October 25: #5 Michigan at #14 Michigan State
- November 1:
- November 8: #4 Michigan at #3 Penn State & #2 Florida State at #5 North Carolina
- November 15:
- November 22: #4 Ohio State at #2 Michigan & #1 Florida State at #12 Florida
- January 1, 1998: Rose Bowl: #1 Michigan vs. #7 Washington State
- January 2, 1998: Orange Bowl: #2 Nebraska vs. #3 Tennessee
1998
- September 5: #5 Michigan at #24 Notre Dame
- September 12:
- September 19:
- September 26: #8 Washington at #2 Nebraska
- October 3: #7 Penn State at #1 Ohio State
- October 10: #5 Tennessee at #7 Georgia
- October 17: #12 Oregon at #2 UCLA
- October 24: #6 Florida State at #19 Georgia Tech
- October 31:
- November 7:
- November 14: #11 Nebraska at #1 Kansas State
- December 5: #3 UCLA at Miami
- January 4, 1999: Fiesta Bowl: #1 Tennessee vs. #2 Florida State
1999
- August 28: #3 Arizona at #4 Penn State
- September 4: #18 Notre Dame at #7 Michigan
- September 11:
- September 18: #2 Tennessee at #4 Florida
- September 25: #4 Michigan at #17 Wisconsin
- October 2:
- October 9: #3 Michigan at #11 Michigan State
- October 16: #15 Syracuse at #4 Virginia Tech
- October 23: #3 Nebraska at #18 Texas
- October 30: #10 Georgia vs. #5 Florida (Jacksonville, FL)
- November 6: Notre Dame at #4 Tennessee
- November 13: #19 Miami at #2 Virginia Tech
- November 20: #1 Florida State at #3 Florida
- January 4, 2000: Sugar Bowl: #1 Florida State vs. #2 Virginia Tech
2000
- August 27: Georgia Tech at #10 Virginia Tech in the BCA Kickoff Classic (Game was canceled due to severe weather. Side note: Lee Corso's rental car was struck by lightning that game)
- September 1:
- September 9: #1 Nebraska at #25 Notre Dame
- September 16: #4 Florida at #9 Tennessee
- September 23: #8 UCLA at Oregon
- September 30: #14 Wisconsin at #9 Michigan
- October 7: #2 Florida State at #8 Miami
- October 14: #8 Oklahoma at #3 Kansas State
- October 21:
- October 28: #1 Nebraska at #3 Oklahoma
- November 4: #2 Virginia Tech at #3 Miami
- November 11: #1 Oklahoma at #24 Texas A&M
- November 18: #4 Florida at #3 Florida State
- December 2: Big 12 Championship Game: #1 Oklahoma vs. #7 Kansas State
- January 3, 2001: Orange Bowl: #1 Oklahoma vs. #2 Florida State
2001
- September 1: #17 UCLA at #25 Alabama
- September 8: #17 Notre Dame at #4 Nebraska (currently holds the record for largest GameDay audience with 15,808 in Memorial Stadium[2])
- September 15: (most of the games were cancelled that day due to the 9/11 terror attacks)
- September 22:
- September 29: #9 Kansas State at #3 Oklahoma
- October 6: #3 Oklahoma vs #5 Texas (Dallas, TX)
- October 13: #1 Miami at #13 Florida State
- October 20:
- October 27: #2 Oklahoma at #3 Nebraska
- November 3: Army at Air Force
- November 10: #3 Florida at #15 South Carolina
- November 17: #13 Syracuse at #2 Miami
- December 1: #4 Tennessee at #2 Florida
- January 3, 2002: Rose Bowl: #1 Miami vs. #2 Nebraska
2002
- August 31: #9 Washington at #10 Michigan
- September 7: #1 Miami at #6 Florida
- September 14: #11 Washington State at #8 Ohio State
- September 21: #10 Florida at #4 Tennessee
- September 28:
- October 5: #6 Georgia at Alabama
- October 12: #3 Oklahoma vs. #2 Texas (Dallas, TX)
- October 19: #7 Notre Dame at #15 Air Force
- October 26: #6 Notre Dame at #13 Florida State
- November 2: #5 Georgia vs #22 Florida (Jacksonville, FL)
- November 9: #1 Miami at Tennessee
- November 16: Harvard at Pennsylvania (this marked the first time GameDay was broadcast live from an Ivy League school)
- November 23: #9 Michigan at #2 Ohio State
- January 3, 2003: Fiesta Bowl: #1 Miami vs. #2 Ohio State
2003
- August 30: #19 Washington at #2 Ohio State
- September 6: #1 Oklahoma at Alabama
- September 13: #14 Notre Dame at #7 Michigan
- September 20: #7 Georgia at #10 LSU
- September 27: South Florida at Army (most of the broadcast was suspended due to lightning)
- October 4: #14 Kansas State at #13 Texas
- October 11: #2 Miami at #5 Florida State
- October 18: #15 Purdue at #12 Wisconsin
- October 25: #11 Northern Illinois at #23 Bowling Green
- November 1: #15 Oklahoma State at #1 Oklahoma
- November 8: #5 Virginia Tech at #21 Pittsburgh
- November 15: #10 Purdue at #4 Ohio State
- November 22: #4 Ohio State at #5 Michigan
- November 29: #9 Florida State at #11 Florida
- January 1, 2004: Rose Bowl: #4 Michigan vs. #1 USC
- January 4, 2004: Sugar Bowl: #3 Oklahoma vs. #2 LSU
2004
- September 4: Oregon State at #3 LSU
- September 11: #3 Georgia at South Carolina
- September 18: Notre Dame at Michigan State (originally set for #5 LSU at #14 Auburn, but rescheduled due to Hurricane Ivan)
- September 25: Penn State at #20 Wisconsin
- October 2: #8 Auburn at #10 Tennessee
- October 9: #7 California at #1 USC
- October 16: #12 Wisconsin at #5 Purdue
- October 23: #3 Miami at North Carolina State
- October 30: #2 Oklahoma at #20 Oklahoma State
- November 6: ESPN Studio in Bristol, CT
- November 13: #5 Georgia at #3 Auburn
- November 20: BYU at #6 Utah
- November 27: Notre Dame at #1 USC
- December 3: SEC Championship Game, #3 Auburn vs #15 Tennessee
- January 3, 2005: Sugar Bowl: #9 Virginia Tech vs #3 Auburn
- January 4, 2005: Orange Bowl: #1 USC vs #2 Oklahoma
2005
- September 3: Notre Dame at #23 Pittsburgh
- September 10: #2 Texas at #4 Ohio State
- September 17: #8 Florida State at #16 Boston College
- September 24: #15 Georgia Tech at #4 Virginia Tech (GameDay was originally scheduled to be in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for the #10 Tennessee at #3 LSU game, but was forced to move due to the approach of Hurricane Rita. The Tennessee-LSU game was postponed until Monday, September 26.)
- October 1: #1 USC at #14 Arizona State
- October 8: #6 Ohio State at #16 Penn State
- October 15: #1 USC at #9 Notre Dame
- October 22: #10 Texas Tech at #2 Texas
- October 29: #4 Georgia vs. #16 Florida (Jacksonville, FL)
- November 5: #5 Miami at #3 Virginia Tech
- November 12: #5 LSU at #4 Alabama
- November 19: #5 Penn State at Michigan State
- November 26: Bayou Classic: Southern University vs. Grambling at Houston, Texas (Game moved from New Orleans, Louisiana to Houston due to Hurricane Katrina; this marked the first time that GameDay was live from a game involving two Historically Black Colleges and Universities)
- December 3: #11 UCLA at #1 USC
- January 4, 2006: Rose Bowl: #2 Texas vs #1 USC
2006
- September 2: #2 Notre Dame at Georgia Tech [4]
- September 9: #1 Ohio State at #2 Texas[4]
- September 16: #19 Nebraska at #4 USC[5]
- September 23: #24 Penn State at #1 Ohio State [6]
- September 30: #1 Ohio State at #13 Iowa [7]
- October 7: #9 LSU at #5 Florida
- October 14: #2 Florida at #11 Auburn
- October 21: #13 Georgia Tech at #12 Clemson
- October 28: #8 Tennessee at South Carolina
- November 4: #18 Oklahoma at #21 Texas A&M[8]
- November 11: #13 Tennessee at #11 Arkansas
- November 18: #2 Michigan at #1 Ohio State
- November 25: #6 Notre Dame at #2 USC
- December 2: ESPN Studio in Bristol, CT
- January 1, 2007: Rose Bowl: #8 USC vs. #3 Michigan
- January 8, 2007: National Championship Game: #2 Florida vs. #1 Ohio State (Glendale, AZ)
2007
- September 1: East Carolina at #9 Virginia Tech[9]
- September 8: #9 Virginia Tech at #2 LSU[10]
- September 15: #1 USC at #14 Nebraska[11]
- September 22: #21 Georgia at #20 Alabama [12]
- September 29: #6 California at #11 Oregon[13]
- October 6: #7 Florida at #2 LSU [14]
- October 13: #11 Missouri at #5 Oklahoma[15]
- October 20: #14 Florida at #13 Kentucky[16]
- October 27: #1 Ohio State at #25 Penn State[17]
- November 3: #6 Arizona State at #4 Oregon[18]
- November 10: Amherst at Williams
Segments
- By the Numbers: This segment appears twice in the show, when they examine various number of games by the numbers.
- GameChanger: At the end of the show, Fowler, Corso and Herbstreit all pick a player that they think will have a game changing performance. This segment is sponsored by Pontiac.
- Saturday Selections: This is the most famous segment of College GameDay, when Corso and Herbstreit make their predictions on the top games in college football. This also includes the game at which GameDay is present, when Lee Corso puts on the head of the mascot whose team he predicts to win that game.
- Speed Drills: In this segment, Fowler throws about six or seven questions at Corso and Herbstreit to answer in 60 or 90 seconds.
- Spirit Meter: This segment, which was taken from the basketball version of College GameDay, looks to see how loud the crowd behind them really is. In its short existence on the football version, the loudest so far has been at Autzen Stadium, set on 2007-11-3 at 127.2 dB.
- Trick of the Trade: In this segment, Desmond Howard is joined by either Lee Corso or a player to break down a play that a team runs so well and how to stop it.
- Upset Special: This is at the end of each hour when ether Corso or Herbstreit predict an upset to happen in a big game. Corso usually makes his at the end of the first hour and Herbstreit makes his before the Saturday Selections, at the end of the second hour.
- What 2 Watch 4: This appears twice throughout the program, when they run down all of the big games and examine them.
Spin-offs
- College GameDay (basketball) (2005-present)
- ESPN Radio College GameDay (2000-present)
Notes
- ^ As Mark Gross, coordinating producer of GameDay, noted: "You're asking a thousand people to show up 12 hours before the game starts [. . . ] By no means are we ignoring (USC). We always discuss the possibility. But the time is something to think about." Patrick Kinmartin, What time is it? Time for 'College GameDay' to make its way to L.A., The Daily Trojan, April 8, 2004.
- ^ a b Mitch Sherman, NU players, fans excited for GameDay, Omaha World-Herald, September 14, 2007.
- ^ http://filebox.vt.edu/users/bkalb/ESPNCollegeGameday/ESPNCollegeGamedayHistory.htm
http://www.stevesams.com/ESPN.htm ESPN College GameDay Information (compiled with help from ESPN research staff & school SIDs)
- ^ a b "ABC SATURDAY NIGHT COLLEGE FOOTBALL TO LAUNCH SEPTEMBER 2". 2006-05-15.
- ^ Some fans, particularly in the SEC, were upset when this game was chosen over comparatively higher ranked match-ups of (at the time ranked) #6 LSU at #3 Auburn; #11 Michigan at #2 Notre Dame; and #7 Florida at #13 Tennessee. The choice was notable because ESPN, which runs College GameDay also runs the college sports programming on sister company ABC (both are owned by The Walt Disney Company); of the four games, only the #19 Nebraska at #4 USC game was on ABC while the others were on rival networks CBS and NBC.[1]
- ^ "Nittany Lions Fall to No 1. Ohio State".
- ^ "Road Trip: Iowa (cont.)". Sports Illustrated. 2006-10-18.
- ^ Rece Davis filled in as host; Fowler was assigned to cover the Breeders' Cup horse races that same day, missing his first GameDay broadcast in 16 years.
- ^ "College GameDay to open season in Blacksburg". Hokiesports.com. 2007-06-27.
- ^ "ESPN's College GameDay to broadcast from Tech-LSU game". hokiesports.com. 2007-09-02. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
- ^ "Live from Lincoln . . . ESPN's College GameDay". Huskers.com. 2007-09-09.
- ^ http://www.ajc.com/services/content/sports/uga/stories/2007/09/17/0918_gameday.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=21
- ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/espntv/espnMicrosite?showID=FBCG
- ^ "ESPN GameDay to be at LSU/Florida game". The Advocate. 2007-09-30.
- ^ "College GameDay Coming to Norman". SoonerSports.com. 2007-10-07.
- ^ Dawson, Brett (2007-10-14). "Believe it: Cats knock off No. 1". The Courier Journal. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
- ^ "ESPN's College GameDay To Originate from Penn State This Weekend".
- ^ "Lee, Kirk and Co. Return for an Encore - GoDucks.com—The University of Oregon Official Athletics Web Site".
External links
- [2] ESPN College GameDay Information (compiled with help from ESPN research staff & school SIDs)
See also
- College football on television
- ESPN Radio College GameDay
- College GameNight
- College Football Final
- College Football Live (a weekday college football program on ESPN or ESPN2)
- College Football Scoreboard
- ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime
- ESPN College Football Saturday Primetime
- Saturday Night Football