ESPN College GameDay coming to WMU Saturday

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—ESPN College GameDay will make a first-time stop in Kalamazoo Saturday, Nov. 19, to do a pregame broadcast from the campus of No. 14 (AP) Western Michigan University.

The weekly three-hour show will air live at 9 a.m. from the Sangren Pedestrian Mall at the center of main campus, with the area opening to fans two to three hours prior to the start of the show.

Get WMU College GameDay details

The home football game versus Buffalo will kick off at 3:30 p.m. in Waldo Stadium, and will be televised nationally on ESPNU. WMU students get into all home football games free with a valid Bronco Card. Tickets start at $20 for the general public and are available at (888) 4-WMU-TIX or wmubroncos.com/tickets.

Led by head coach P.J. Fleck, the football Broncos are No. 14 in the AP Top 25 and No. 21 in the USA Today Amway Coaches Poll and College Football Playoff rankings.

WMU is one of just two undefeated teams left in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The other is No. 1-ranked Alabama. Both schools are 10-0.

Watch WMU College GameDay video

ESPN GameDay at WMU events

Thursday, Nov. 17, 2 p.m.—ESPN College GameDay's official roll in, circle drive at the Gathering Tree sculpture near Sangren Hall.
Friday, Nov. 18, 5:30 to 7 p.m.—Pep rally with Fleck and the Bronco football team, Bronson Park, downtown Kalamazoo.
Saturday, Nov. 19, 9 a.m. to noon—ESPN College GameDay broadcast, Sangren Pedestrian Mall. Area will open to the public two to three hours prior to the start of the show.
Saturday, Nov. 19, 3:30 p.m.—WMU football versus Buffalo, Waldo Stadium. Tickets available at wmubroncos.com/tickets.

Get complete details on WMU ESPN College GameDay activities online at http://bit.ly/2g1IgCr.

Official GameDay apparel

The WMU Bookstore is selling official Bronco ESPN GameDay shirts. Short- and long-sleeve T-shirts can be purchased in-store and online at wmubookstore.com.

ESPN College GameDay

Winner of six Emmy Awards, ESPN College GameDay Built by the Home Depot is college football's longest-running and most-celebrated pregame show. It is hosted by Rece Davis, who is joined by analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack, as well as contributors Chris "The Bear" Fallica, Jen Lada, Samantha Ponder, Tom Rinaldi, George Whitfield and Gene Wojciechowski. It concludes with a prediction segment, after which Corso dons the mascot's headgear of the team he predicts will win the game—usually to the ire or excitement of local fans.

WMU is the second Mid-American Conference school ever to be featured on College GameDay. The show originated from Bowling Green Oct. 25, 2003, when it defeated Northern Illinois. Northern Illinois' leading receiver that day was current WMU head coach P.J. Fleck.

Corso fun facts

Corso has been making his entertaining end-of-show headgear pick for 20 years, and week 12 at Western Michigan will feature headgear No. 287 for Corso. He is 189-97 all-time in headgear picks.
Corso has lost his last two headgear picks after putting together a string of five straight wins.
He is 7-4 in headgear picks this year.
Corso has never picked Western Michigan or Buffalo. This week will mark the 56th different mascot headgear he has donned.
He lost all three times last year when picking schools for the first time (Arizona, James Madison and Baylor), but won when picking Louisville for the first time in September.

"The Bear" College GameDay fun facts

Kalamazoo will be the 77th different city from which GameDay has originated.
Western Michigan is the 68th different school to host GameDay.
Western Michigan is the eighth first-time school to host GameDay in the last three years.
All four debut hosts in 2014 year won their game—Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Harvard and Baylor.
Last year, debut hosts James Madison and Temple lost.
Louisville won as a first time host this year, blowing out Florida State in September.
Home teams have lost each of the last three weeks at the GameDay location.
This is the first time in five weeks GameDay will be at a game televised by an ESPN network.

For more information on WMU football, visit wmubroncos.com.

For more news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.

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