On Saturday afternoon, No. 2 Penn State will take on No. 6 Ohio State in Columbus, and apparently, any sports television network worth its salt will be there.
Unsurprisingly, ESPN chose this matchup of conference rivals and top-10 teams as the site of College GameDay. This will mark the show’s second trip to Columbus this season.
And since this could be the most enticing Big Ten game of the entire season, it makes sense that Big Ten Tailgate, BTN’s weekly on-the-road studio show, will be in Columbus as well.
Meanwhile, it’s actually Fox that is broadcasting the game (thanks to its new rights deal with the Big Ten), and although their pregame show doesn’t usually travel for pregame shows, it will be in town Saturday as well, as part of a “GREATEST WEEKEND EVER” promotion. However, unlike the other two pregame shows, it will be airing in the afternoon rather than the morning.
For good measure, FS1 morning show First Things First, with Jenna Wolfe, Nick Wright, and former Buckeye Cris Carter will be in Columbus, broadcasting from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET on Friday morning.
We haven’t seen this many broadcast crews in one location since Brick Tamland killed a guy with a trident.
In seriousness, the fact so many networks are broadcasting on-site is a testament to the success of GameDay, now in its 31st season overall and 25th on the road. We’ve all seen how compelling a traveling pregame show can be and how it can galvanize a campus and a town, and since then, everyone from Fox to Barstool has given it a try.
Three different pregame shows in one place, however, is something we’ve never quite heard of.
