ESPN prides itself on its in-depth research.
The supreme sports television network has a huge contingent of staff that extensively keeps tabs on all major college sports teams.
But it freely admits that it bypassed a certain school as a potential destination during its preseason planning for the hit weekly “College GameDay” preview show.
“We scouted a lot of different schools before the season that were possible sites for our show,” said ESPN spokesman Mac Nwulu, regarding the show that travels around each week to the site of the biggest college football game of that weekend. “But nobody thought we’d be at Oregon so we didn’t scout them. Although there were definitely some people who thought that we should.”
Rightfully so, it turns out, as ESPN has chosen Eugene as its destination for “GameDay,” with the Oregon – No. 6 UCLA clash as its headliner.
“We feel that with the Pac-10 performing as it has, we wanted to showcase them and really, this is the best game in the country this weekend,” Nwulu said. “UCLA has beaten two number three ranked teams in a row and Oregon played Wisconsin very tough down to the end.
“This game has national championship implications.”
“College GameDay” is anchored by Lee Corso, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit. The three were at the site of the Florida – Tennessee tilt on Sept. 16 and the Nebraska-Notre Dame game on Sept. 9.
Saturday’s contest will mark the first time ever that the show has televised from the Northwest and only the second time that it’s ever been on the West Coast. Coincidentally, the last time the show ventured out west was when it chose to have its GameDay crew in Los Angeles two seasons ago for UCLA’s wild 41-38 overtime win over the Ducks.
Oregon officials are well aware of how huge an opportunity this is to gain national exposure and hope that the community responds accordingly.
“We are extremely excited to be the first college in the Northwest to host ESPN,” Oregon athletic director Bill Moos said. “I encourage all of our students, fans and alumni to join me Saturday morning and take part in what will be a great national showcase for the University of Oregon and the Pacific-10 Conference.”
The preview show will be broadcasted live from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. outside of Autzen Stadium on Saturday morning. According to Oregon media services, the outdoor set will be located on the far practice field in the corner, just outside of Papé Field, furthest away from Autzen.
The site was chosen to give as much grass between the set and the stadium, in order to fully capture the view of the Moshofsky and Casanova Centers, the stadium, as well as the Coburg Hills in the background.
The parking lots to Autzen Stadium will be opened at 7 a.m. and pre-game festivities will take place at 8 a.m. inside the Moshofsky Center. Also at 8 a.m., there will be an interactive display in the Moshofsky Center that will be put on by Tostitos, the official sponsor of “College GameDay.”
“I think it’s very exciting to have ESPN coming to Eugene,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “It also puts our game front and center; playing in the spotlight, there’s no place to hide.”
At practice this past week, many Oregon players seemed genuinely “pumped” that ESPN will be on hand for the 12:30 p.m. game, which also happens to be nationally televised live by Fox Sports Net.
“It’s going to be sweet not only for the players here, but also for this program as a whole,” senior wide receiver Marshaun Tucker said. “So we can go out there and prove to everybody what Oregon’s all about. And also, it can help place us on the map and let people know we’re out here.”
Oregon junior starting quarterback Joey Harrington mentioned how the addition of ESPN has definitely added a little bit of excitement, but that nothing has really changed as far as his team’s pregame mindset goes. He said that the exposure is great, but it’s more for the fans and for the city.
He does, however, want to catch a little bit of the program and see what kind of talk is being tossed around about the game and the conference. Particularly from Corso, who has been known to kick a little dirt on Pac-10 teams.
“I usually watch it on Saturday mornings, and if I can’t this time, I’ll probably record it,” Harrington said. “I got to see if good ol’ Lee Corso decides to bash the Pac-10 again. I don’t know what he’s going to do this week since there’s two good Pac-10 teams playing.”
Tucker also said that he’ll be eager to watch the show in the morning before his own game day preparation.
“Oh you know I am,” said the senior wide receiver. “I’m gonna check it out a little bit. It should be fun, but really, my mind is going to be on that big game that afternoon.”
The GameDay team plans on doing a live feed for the Friday “SportsCenter,” but that’s pending on whether the crew’s trucks get into town in time after driving on short notice from Tennessee.
“We’ll try to do our best to get it on Friday, but if not, we have ESPN reporter Shelley Smith already in town, who will be giving reports during the week,” Nwulu said.
In any regards, the show will be live on air Saturday morning, and ESPN is hoping that the early Pacific Coast start time will not result in a poor showing of fans who will be standing all around the set and getting their faces on national television.
“We’re all excited for it and I hope the people of Oregon are too so they can show the college football community what Eugene is all about,” Nwulu said.