Villanova will host College GameDay Feb. 12
The Villanova Wildcats will make their second appearance on the ESPN show in a primetime game against Big East opponent Pittsburgh.
Villanova will host College GameDay Feb. 12
Villanova will host the ESPN "College GameDay" crew at the Pavilion on Feb. 12, 2011, for a primetime matchup with Big East opponent Pittsburgh.
"College GameDay Driven by State Farm" will air from 10 a.m. to noon at the Pavilion on ESPNU for the first hour and then move to ESPN for the second hour. At 8 p.m., ESPN will broadcast live from courtside before tipoff at 9 p.m.
Villanova has appeared on College GameDay just once before - last year's game at Syracuse. Pittsburgh will be making its fourth appearance. The Big East Conference as a whole has been featured on the program 13 times, the most of any conference since 2004.
Wildcats coach Jay Wright said in a Villanova press release that the team and university are "thrilled that ESPN has decided to bring 'College GameDay' to the Villanova campus for the first time."
"The entire country will get to see the great support we receive from the Nova Nation and our amazing student section," Wright said. "All of us at Villanova are excited about this opportunity."
No other Big 5 teams are scheduled for the program. It's not the first time the Wildcats have been in the Saturday night prime time game - they were the visitors at Syracuse last season. But it's the first time GameDay has come to the Philadelphia area.
Maybe some day they'll get all the way to the Palestra. We can hope, right?
Here's the full schedule for the season. It includes the first ever men's-women's doubleheader. Unless otherwise noted, all GameDay broadcasts are 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on ESPNU, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. on ESPN and 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.)
January 15: Vanderbilt at Tennessee doubleheader (men at 12 p.m., GameDay at 7 p.m., women at 8 p.m.)
January 22: Michigan State at Purdue
January 29: Kansas State at Kansas (GameDay at 6 p.m., game at 7 p.m.)
February 5: Kentucky at Florida
February 12: Pittsburgh at Villanova
February 19: Illinois at Michigan State
February 26: Duke at Virginia Tech
March 5: Texas at Baylor
If ESPN Game day ever came to the Palestra, what team would they be there for???? Penn.....sju......LaSalle??? kinda doubt it. If Temple, they would go to the Liacouris, but, also doubt that as that is never sold out.— Bigbirch- You do the show from the Palestra, a Temple-St. Joe's game at noon, a Penn game at 6, the show at 8, and a Villanova game from the Wachovia Center at 9. I have a really hard time believing that they wouldn't be able to find a second production truck.
- The point of GameDay is to do the morning and evening pre-game shows from the sight of the biggest game of the day. Having it at the Palestra, followed by a mid-major game at noon and then going to a completely differnt building for a game at night defeats the whole purpose. The fact of the matter is that 'Nova is the only Big 5 team with a big enough profile to host College GameDay.— mvp15
- I didn't even know a college gameday existed for basketball..— Leron
- I get that, mvp, but on more than a few occasions the prime time game is not the biggest game of the day. CBS is just as likely to have the biggest game. And furthermore, you would do it to honor the history of the Palestra and the Big 5, not just to promote one game.
- And the rest of the Little 4 can be jealous at the Big Dogs once again. Go Cats!!!!— Jimmychit
Comment removed.- No one outside the Phila. area cares about the history of the Palestra or the Big 5. People aren't going to tune in because they are honoring the Big 5. They tune in because of the draw of the game. The draw is 'Nova/Pitt...two top 10 teams. And the prime time game is ESPN's biggest game of the day.— mvp15
Reach Jonathan at jtannenwald@phillynews.com or 215-854-2330.
