"GameDay" Heads To BYU Despite ESPN's Lack Of MWC Contract

"College GameDay" Will Broadcast Live From BYU Tomorrow For The First Time

ESPN's "College GameDay" will broadcast live from Provo, Utah, tomorrow in advance of the TCU-BYU game, and the move is "quite a development" considering the net does not have the rights to Mountain West Conference football, according to Jeff Call of the DESERET NEWS. The MWC in '06 "declined to extend its television contract with ESPN" and instead launched the mtn. TCU coach Gary Patterson: "I think for 'College GameDay' to pay us the compliment of coming to Provo, to be a part of that ballgame, I think's a big deal. A lot of times we don't get a chance to be part of that in the Mountain West because our (TV) package is not with ESPN" (DESERET NEWS, 10/22). Call earlier in the week noted "GameDay" has "never come to Provo before and the last time it made an appearance at a Mountain West Conference school" was for the BYU-Utah game in '04. BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said that the fact ESPN chose the TCU-BYU game is a "sign of respect." Mendenhall: "Both TCU's program, and our program now, have played to the level and there's enough intrigue about what's happening with our programs that we've been selected for (that)" (DESERET NEWS, 10/20).

PRAISEWORTHY MOVE: In Utah, Scott Pierce writes under the header, "ESPN Deserves Credit For Provo Visit." ESPN and "GameDay" deserve "huge praise for coming to Provo," as the game is on Versus instead of the ESPN family of networks. The show has "nothing to gain by hyping BYU-TCU," and networks "are not in the habit of doing anything when there's nothing in it for them" (DESERET NEWS, 10/23). But "GameDay" analyst Kirk Herbstreit "disputed a sentiment held by some in the West that ESPN holds a grudge against the MWC because the league ended its contract with ESPN" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 10/23). Meanwhile, in Denver, Natalie Meisler wrote, "Don't look for any hidden agenda by ESPN warming up to the league in advance of contract negotiations." The MWC is in "only the fourth year of a 10-year, three-pronged agreement" with Versus, CBS College Sports and the mtn. (DENVERPOST.com, 10/20).

HORN OF PLENTY: In Ft. Worth, Stefan Stevenson reported TCU's football team has been "inundated this week by approximately 50 interview requests from television and radio stations nationwide," which is the "most media request[s] for the Frogs since at least 2005," TCU's first year in the MWC. Patterson taped interviews for CBS College Sports and ESPN, and he also is "squeezing in a few more interviews before Saturday's game, including with ESPN radio, Tim Brando's syndicated radio show and The New York Times" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 10/22).