Indiana Is New Turf For ESPN College GameDay; Personalities Excited To Be Here

Rece Davis and ‘Stanford Steve’ Coughlin spoke about the buzz when they appear at a new school and the interest the Hoosiers have generated nationally.

General view of ESPN Gameday set during the broadcast in the front of Wilson Hall on the campus of James Madison University prior to the homecoming game between Richmond and James Madison at Bridgeforth Stadium. / Brad Mills-Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – To keep things purely factual, ESPN College GameDay has been to Indiana before. The iconic college football pregame show was hosted from Memorial Stadium at the 2017 opening game on a Thursday night.

That is a fact, but it’s also true that Indiana has never hosted the Saturday version of the show. In terms of the circus-like atmosphere the show is famous for, that distinction makes all the difference in the world.

ESPN College GameDay will begin its version of road show madness at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday. The show will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPNU. The game itself, which kicks off at noon, is not on ESPN. It will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.

College GameDay host Rece Davis enjoys it when College GameDay heads to a new site. Even he acknowledged that the 2017 appearance was only a teaser for the real thing.

“We were in the stadium in 2017. It was a great night, and people were excited. But there's a little something different about having our full footprint of the show, the full three hours and starting the day of football,” Davis said to the Indiana media on Friday at Memorial Stadium. “It's just a different vibe and a different energy about that.”

College GameDay does its best to host at the site that tells the best story of college football on that weekend. Unlike some of its competitors, ESPN does not hesitate to host the program at sites of games it is not broadcasting.

Davis knows Indiana is going to be fired up for the iconic show, which began in 1987 and started visiting campus sites in 1993. Over the years, it's become part of college football tradition itself. Former Indiana coach Lee Corso, who has been on the show since its inception, has become famous for his personality and antics on the morning show.

“I'm looking forward to actually being among the Indiana fans,” Davis said. “It's a lot different when we go some place where we haven't been before. When we go to Ohio State, we go to Alabama, we're treated well, we're treated great, wonderful people.

“But it's almost like, ‘Hey, you guys are back. Did you guys pay the property taxes and everything? I know we're all neighbors here.’ You know, it's like they're used to seeing us,” Davis said.

With or without the Corso tie-in, Indiana’s football team had to put itself on ESPN’s radar to get the show in the first place. Indiana is 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten heading into its game against Washington. Curt Cignetti’s rapid turnaround has turned heads around the college football world.

“The adjective I've used is crisp, and what I mean by that is they execute. They're not sloppy. There's not confusion. A lot of that is attributable to coach (Mike) Shanahan (co-offensive coordinator), coach Cignetti, coach (Tino) Sunseri (co-offensive coordinator),” Davis said.

Quarterback Kurtis Rourke was also mentioned as a key part of Indiana’s success, but he won’t play against Washington with his right thumb injury. Tayven Jackson will play in his place.

“(Jackson) comes in the game, and I'm like, they’re going to run the ball and get out of here with a win,” ESPN personality “Stanford Steve” Couglin said. “No. The first six plays are passes, he throws two TDs, and they score 28 more points. So, that foot is on the gas, and I can't wait to see what they bring the table.”

Davis thinks Indiana has its destiny in its own hands as far as the College Football Playoff is concerned. The first CFP rankings will be announced on Nov. 5.

“First? They can win the Big Ten, which is a tall order, for sure. I understand that. But even if they don't, let's say for instance they lose to Ohio State,” Davis surmised. “They don't make the Big 10 championship game, but they play competitively. I think there's a really good chance they would be in that top 11 (the best non-Power Four conference champion gets an automatic bid), probably, depending on where the other (non-Power Four) conference champion would be ranked.”

Indiana’s poor strength of schedule – something Davis defended while he also pointed out the reality that it will hurt Indiana in comparison to other playoff contenders – will play a role in the Hoosiers’ fate.

“There will still be football judgment, their schedule outside of these games coming up in November, will be scrutinized, and that's appropriate. There's nothing wrong with that,” Davis said. “So a lot of it is going to be how they play. If they play competitively, I think they've got a shot, and the best thing about the new system, they can just win, and then they don't have to worry about it.”

Specific to Saturday, Coughlin had a cautionary tale for Indiana fans. When they visited Cignetti at James Madison in 2023, there was similar hype around the JMU campus. Nearly all of the attention was honed in on JMU. Their opponent, Appalachian State, was treated as an afterthought.

“Not once in that show of three hours did we mention App State, and App State won (26-23) and cost JMU an undefeated season,” Coughlin said. “So knowing that coach Cig was there for that, I'm sure he's learned from that.”

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• MEET THE OPPONENT: Washington will be a challenge for Indiana on Saturday. CLICK HERE.

• TODD'S TAKE ON CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT: It’s popular to complain about traditions lost, but what was gained by accident is a system that creates a more compelling conference race. CLICK HERE

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