ESPN's 'GameDay' to debut with destination reveal show, college football broadcast teams released
ESPN's main vehicle, "College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" will kick off the season this Saturday, Sept. 5, at 10 a.m. (11 a.m. EST), with a special two-hour preview show. Host Rece Davis will be live from ESPN's Bristol, Conn., studios, while analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack will be live from remote locations. Maria Taylor will also contribute to the program.
The destination of GameDay's first road trip of the 2020 season, set for Sept. 12, will be announced during the show.
Now why am I bringing this up? Well, looking ahead to the weekend of September 19th when we are hosting UVa shows the following slate of 'big' matchups....
Miami @ Louisville
Virginia @ Virginia Tech
That's.... pretty much it. You also have games like Wake at NCSU, Cuse at Pitt, BC at Duke, and UCF at GT, but its vert much a weak weekend in terms of matchups.
So... We very much could be looking at a Commonwealth Cup matchup hosting College GameDay. Which, I mean would be totally awesome. On the other hand, it would be odd seeing GameDay in Blacksburg without anyone allowed to attend.
Edit: Now that I think about it, this might not mean that they are heading to campuses. They could very well be heading out to other locations across the country, and not just campuses, so I changed the title.
Comments
what even is the point if congregatin' ain't allowed?
Publicity. Good publicity.
Even if there's no crowd it's always good to have Gameday showing your beautiful campus, and the fact that they think your school is "big" enough to go visit. Bodes well for future recruits I should think . Every little bit helps.
COVID AIN'T PLAYED NOBODY, PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWL
But really, its about the publicity. If they did come to Blacksburg, imagine them setting up in a more intimate location on campus, like inside Torg bridge. Helps show off campus in ways you don't usually get to see from a show like that.
If they come to Bburg I would guess they setup somewhere in Lane or the Beamer Barn. Somewhere that is easy to control access and won't draw a crowd. Probably could set it up to get the cheerleaders in the background like they do most of time.
Maybe. I agree on a place that would limit access, which is why I would think being inside a structure would be better than outside. With Torg, there are only a couple entryways they'd need to block off to make it work, and if its only the bridge its minimal impact to student life while they are filming.
I guess it just goes to what kind of atmosphere they are trying to portray this year. I'm not sure being in a stadium or inside a cavernous indoor training facility that is eerily empty before a game is the best setting for a show. Appropriate for 2020, but maybe they could be looking for setups a little more intimate.
Just as long as they don't play any more stupid songs
"WE ARE COMAAAAAAAAAAAAAING. TO YO CITAAAAAAAAAAAY"
Roll-in songs that you have heard so many times that you rue their very existence about halfway through the season is a key part of the college football season
REMEMBER ME, FOR CENTURIES
light em up up up
It's been six years since they used that for the first CFP, and it's still the only song that I've associated with it.
Trigger Warning: College football's annual Stockholm syndrome pop songs
I could never quite pin down just why I didn't like Imagine Dragons, I just knew that for some reason they grated on me.
Yeah, now I get it
Life was so much better this time last year.
Ahh...2014.
The year we beat the eventual national champions. And that's all you need to know about it.
Well Bama and ND are scheduled to play home games...
I heard they was going to all NASCAR Races for the year.
Edit: Seriously though why go on the road if you aren't interacting with crowds?
Well, exposure for starters.
Also it's a big part of college football. If they can do the show and keep it close to what it was minus the crowd, it's still a big thing on Saturday mornings.
And if one or two of them are calling the game that night, why not be there. They can interview players and coaches on Friday beforehand, and still have the show.
Oh I 100% agree And all of those are benefits of it regardless of a pandemic. It just seems in regard to keep exposure as low as possible it would make more sense right now for them to stay in house. Several sports (NASCAR included actually) the announcers are not even on site.
Im not beefed by it either way, but if these schools are encouraging people to stay home to stay safe, welcoming this on campus sends the wrong message.
Edit: I have become the very thing I hate, I swear that will be the only pandemically related thing I ever post.
That's why I think they could do an inside an empty stadium setup. Nobody would have a chance to gather to try to get in the shot, and they would still be in a football setting. Other places around campus would have students clamoring to get in the background shot with posters and flags...gathering closely.
And the guys don't even have to be in the same location on campus. For example, if they did come to Tech, you could have a setup like this:
Herbie in the Merryman football museum
Corso in Fuente's office overlooking the practice fields/Lane
Palmer in Torg Bridge
Allows them to showcase some awesome areas of campus that don't get a lot of airtime on these kind of events.
Also probably being pushed by those that paid for advertising to put that ish on TV and broadcast it regardless of crowds.
You know ESPN wants that fat check from Home Depot.
Isn't exposure what we're trying to limit here? /s
Edit: I need to read the whole post before commenting. Please disregard.
This will only be worthwhile if they allow fans to send in signs that will scroll across the screen as they do gameday. Maybe make it interactive with viewers where they can vote for the funniest signs which show up more often. Otherwise, I won't really care except unless VT is involved.
Somehow the Washington State Cougar flag needs to show up as well for this to be legit...
They should allow a limited number of fans to keep the GameDay Sign tradition alive and well. Let's be honest, most fans tune in to see the crowd and the creative signs.
They could even turn it into a fundraiser for charity by selling a limited number of tickets.
EDIT: It also sounds like the crew could just be joining the broadcast from their homes, basements, other remote studios, etc. Doesn't even sound like they will be traveling anywhere, Rece is staying in Conn. and so not sure why they are calling it a "road trip". Seems like they should be calling it a "virtual road trip".
that virtual thing is just the first week, and during that first week's show they will announce their location for week 2
Thanks. I read it as Rece being in Conn. every week.
ESPN FC has been doing their show this way and it isnt awful aside from when technology fails or you have someone with a bad lag time but I would imagine they could pull it off well enough to help make fall saturdays feel okay again.
College GameDay from the College Football Hall of Fame would be cool. They could get catering from Magic City because da wings da bomb.
I see no reason for them to add the expense of travelling and moving the set just to be in an empty stadium or vacant corner of campus. They could put whatever backdrop they want on their zoom call and stay in pajama bottoms.
If they have it at VT, maybe they could use all the life size photos that will be in the stadium as background. Then use some software to make the photos animated?
I watched some this morning. It's just another FB show. All I heard was SEC and a little Big 12. No buzz to the show.