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The Indiana Daily Student

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ESPN's College Gameday to come to Bloomington

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ESPN announced Thursday that its flagship show, College GameDay, will be coming to IU for the season opener against Ohio State on Aug. 31. The show will be a special Thursday night edition, as it will broadcast live inside Memorial Stadium from 6-8 p.m.

The host of College Gameday, Rece Davis, first mentioned the announcement on an ESPN radio appearance in Louisville.

“I’m anxious to see — we will be there for a special edition of GameDay on Thursday night — I’m anxious to see Ohio State with Kevin Wilson running the offense," Davis said in that radio appearance. "He’s a tremendous offensive coach, and I think he could perhaps get Ohio State back up and rolling,”

This will be College GameDay’s first visit to Bloomington in their 24 years of on-site broadcasting.

IU was in a similar position two years ago in 2015, then No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes were coming to Bloomington for an undefeated battle, with IU and Ohio State both sitting at 4-0. IU fans created a strong social media campaign to bring College GameDay to Bloomington with the hashtag "#iufb4gameday".

While prominent alumni and ESPN personalities chimed in, the campaign proved to be unsuccessful, as ESPN headed to South Carolina for the highly anticipated matchup between Notre Dame and Clemson.

This year’s tilt also has an intriguing storyline with former IU Coach Kevin Wilson returning to IU as Ohio State's offensive coordinator. Wilson was at the helm of IU for six years. 

The last time Ohio State played in Bloomington in 2015, Memorial Stadium was sold-out for the first time since Michigan came to town in 2010. 

 TC Malik

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