Fifteen years after Washington State football fans began using their school flag to lobby insistently for a host gig on College GameDay, they’re finally getting their wish.
ESPN announced Saturday night that its GameDay crew is headed for Pullman to air its popular weekly TV program Saturday ahead of the Cougars’ game against Oregon.
The three-hour program will begin at 6 a.m., and the game itself starts at 4:30 p.m. at Martin Stadium, to be televised by FOX.
It’s the first time Pullman has ever been chosen as the host for GameDay, which is aired live from a different game site each week.
Beginning with a GameDay broadcast from Austin, Texas, on Oct. 3, 2003, one or more Washington State fans have followed the program from city to city with the express purpose of insinuating their school flag in front of the camera during the shoot. “Ol’ Crimson,” therefore, has made 216 consecutive broadcasts.
At least part of the goal of this ritual has been to lure the show to Wazzu, a fact to which commentator Kirk Herbstreit alluded in making the announcement.
“You start to look at the drawing board — where College GameDay should go for Week 8,” he said, “and there’s really no debate. It’s been a long time — the 15-year anniversary is this Saturday — for that beautiful flag, Ol’ Crimson, that’s been traveling around College GameDay. So there’s only one place for College GameDay to go: Oregon at Washington State. We will see you in Pullman.”
What may have clinched the decision was Oregon’s 30-27 overtime win Saturday over Washington. That left the Cougars and the Ducks both 5-1 overall, 2-1 in conference play, and tied in the loss column with Washington and Stanford atop the Pac-12 North standings. The Cougs had an open date Saturday.
Over the years, WSU fans have repeatedly got their hopes up for a GameDay nod, only to be disappointed. A prime reason may have been the complicated logistics of getting the program’s crew and equipment to isolated Pullman.
Fans were especially crestfallen when GameDay chose a contest at Temple in 2015 over a game in Pullman between the 5-2 Cougars and 6-1 Stanford.
Last year occasioned a duel of undefeated WSU and USC teams in Pullman, but a Friday-night kickoff precluded the possibility of a GameDay visit.
Other games that might have been considered this week were Michigan at Michigan State, Mississippi State at Louisiana State, and North Carolina State at Clemson.
GameDay was launched in 1987 but didn’t begin live broadcasts until six years later.
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Dale Grummert may be contacted at daleg@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2290.
