It took a mere 31 years, but ESPN’s iconic pregame show will broadcast live from Berkeley on Saturday morning in advance of Cal’s home duel with eighth-ranked Miami.
Since ‘College GameDay’ made its on-campus debut in South Bend in 1993, the three-hour show has set up shop on dozens of campuses across major college football.
It has spent 23 Saturdays in Columbus and 19 in Tuscaloosa. It has been to Kalamazoo and Corvallis, Lubbock and Lexington.
But until this week, Berkeley never had the honor.
Cal plans to maximize the recruiting opportunity.
“As soon as they announced the show would be coming, we blasted it out to 350 or 400 kids on our priority list,” said Marshall Cherrington, who oversees recruiting as the Bears’ director of player personnel.
“It reverberates with recruits across the country, so we’re trying to take advantage of it as much as we can. A couple of local kids are even talking about going to campus to watch ‘GameDay’ live at 6 a.m.”
In that regard, the Bears are using the same ‘GameDay’ blueprint deployed by dozens of other schools, including their recruiting rivals on the West Coast.
The show, which now includes former Alabama coach Nick Saban, has been to Eugene 11 times and Salt Lake City five times. It has been to Tucson and Pullman. All the former Pac-12 schools, along with Washington State and Oregon State, had played host at least once.
They reveled in the free exposure on a show that typically attracts two million viewers per week.
“While the West Coast has gotten a couple ‘GameDay’ visits each year, it seems like it’s always been the same spots — Eugene and Los Angeles, with nominal stops in Seattle, Boulder, Salt Lake City and Westwood,” Brandon Huffman, national recruiting editor for 247Sports, told the Hotline via email.
“This is pivotal for Cal. We saw last year the buzz (‘GameDay’) brought to Boulder, along with Deion Sanders. But I anticipate social media will ramp things up even more for the Bears.”
The exposure is particularly helpful this season, as Cal transitions into the ACC and expands its recruiting efforts.
‘GameDay’ goes live at 9 a.m. Eastern and will be staged in Memorial Glade, next to Doe Library in the heart of Cal’s campus.
“The amount of attention (Cal) will get bright and early in the day on the West Coast, but more importantly, on the East Coast, will be huge for them,” Huffman wrote.
“It gets more East Coast recruits, particularly those in the 2026 and 2027 classes, hearing and seeing about Cal.”
In addition to the prospects watching the broadcast, the Bears expect as many as 700 recruits and high school coaches to attend the 7:30 p.m. kickoff, Cherrington said.
The majority will be juniors and seniors, but the Bears expect members of the 2027 and 2028 classes to attend, as well.
“Recruiting is usually one-sided, with the schools reaching out to the kids,” Cherrington. “But we’re seeing some reciprocity. A lot of the recruits are proactively reaching out to us.”
Viewer’s guide
The Week 6 schedule isn’t overflowing with marquee matchups — on the other hand, the Oct. 12 lineup is absolutely loaded — but a handful of games are worth watching, beginning Friday night.
(All times Pacific)
Michigan State at Oregon (Friday at 6 p.m. on Fox): The Spartans make the long trip on a short week, which should impact their preparation. Coach Jonathan Smith was winless in Autzen Stadium during his tenure at Oregon State. Broadcast crew: Jason Benetti, Brock Huard and Allison Williams
Iowa at Ohio State (12:30 p.m. on CBS): The Big Ten gets comfortable in the CBS afternoon window formerly occupied by the SEC’s premier game. Ohio State could get caught in a look-ahead situation to the Oregon showdown next week. Broadcast crew: Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson and Jenny Dell
Michigan at Washington (4:30 p.m. on NBC): First regular-season game on the West Coast for the Wolverines since a loss at Oregon in 2003, although they also dropped the 2015 season opener at Utah (in Jim Harbaugh’s first game as coach). Broadcast crew: Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge and Kathryn Tappen
Miami at Cal (7:30 p.m. on ESPN): Jared Goff, Tony Gonzalez or Marshawn Lynch would make sense as the ‘College GameDay’ guest picker. (Yes, Goff is available: The Lions have a bye after playing on Monday night.) Broadcast crew: Dave Flemming, Brock Osweiler and Sherree Burruss
*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to wilnerhotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716
*** Follow me on Twitter/X: @WilnerHotline