College GameDay-to-Indiana movement becoming quite real
I know. It sounds crazy.
Why would ESPN College GameDay want to come to Bloomington? Memorial Stadium doesn’t even get 50,000 fans. The team hasn’t even been to a bowl since 2007-08. With the exception of last year’s stunning win at No. 18 Missouri, IU hasn’t been the focus of a positive national story since the Terry Hoeppner era.
But this thing is not just some crazy fan movement. There’s plenty of reason to believe Bloomington has a chance to host the GameDay crew for the first time when No. 1 Ohio State comes to town Oct. 3 for the B1G opener.
Indianapolis Star reporter Zach Osterman chronicled the #iufbgameday movement, which started with a tweet from ESPN college basketball analyst and former IU basketball player Dan Dakich.
IU Football Fans lose the "woe is me" thing!! Stand up and let @leefitting know that IU Oct3 is the spot for @CollegeGameDay #iufbgameday
— Dan Dakich (@dandakich) September 20, 2015
The Crimson Quarry — IU’s student section — continued the social media movement. That then led to tweets at one of the show’s producers, Lee Fitting, as to why it would be in GameDay’s best interest to head to the Hoosier state.
@IUBarstool @CollegeGameDay would be a blast.
— Lee Fitting (@leefitting) September 22, 2015
Ok, so that could’ve been a nice way of just saying, ‘Yeah, we hear you. Unfortunately, we get flooded with messages like this from every school throughout college football season.’
For most IU football fans, that would’ve been enough of a compliment to tide them over. But more notable IU celebrities — with ESPN connections to boot — got involved.
ESPN anchor and IU alum Sage Steele joined the movement. That warranted another Fitting response.
@sagesteele @KirkHerbstreit @HoosierFootball @CrimsonInsomnia love going somewhere we've never been before!
— Lee Fitting (@leefitting) September 22, 2015
Still, does any of that mean anything? Just because a producer is open to the idea doesn’t mean it’ll happen. After all, IU is battling with the Alabama/Georgia game — though GameDay has been to an Alabama game in two of its first three weeks — as well as No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 11 Clemson, and Arizona State vs. No. 9 UCLA.
But this tweet proved that IU is definitely on the network’s short list.
We see you. #iufb4gameday
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 22, 2015
That HAS to be worth something. So does the fact the Lee Corso is arguably the most beloved IU coach in program history. You can’t tell me he wouldn’t love a return to his old stomping grounds.
So what would have to happen for the Hoosiers to shock the world and land the GameDay host? For starters, they can’t lay an egg at Wake Forest on Saturday. IU must be 4-0 to generate any sort of hype for a showdown against the No. 1 Buckeyes.
IU fans should also be rooting against the likes of Notre Dame, Clemson, and UCLA, all of which would lose traction for their Week 5 matchups of they suffered their first loss.
Osterman examined all the factors that ultimately go into the GameDay decision.
Fitting usually announces the decision sometime Saturday night. You can bet he gained a whole mess of IU followers this week.