College Gameday

David R.

October 28, 2009 - 10:45 AM

Given that Eugene is a rather small, college dominated town, hearing its name on national television is a rare occurrence. However, given that the Ducks football team has been able to achieve great deals of success during the last few weeks, Eugene, The U of O, Autzen Stadium, and our number 10 ranked football team will be broadcasted all across the country on Saturday morning.

College Gameday, a renowned broadcast on Saturday mornings, chooses, week to week, a different university to visit, based on which game is considered to have the highest stakes riding on it. If College Gameday comes to your town, that essentially means that all of the college football experts feel that the game taking place in your stadium is the biggest game in the country that day. Many schools go years and years before College Gameday comes back, or makes its first visit. Ironically, this production made its way to Eugene twice in 2007, as the high powered Ducks, led by Dennis Dixon, were marching their way through the polls. I was one of the lucky few who was able to be there live for the broadcast that begins in the early hours of the morning.

After the Ducks beat the Huskies this last Saturday, and the Trojans were able to hold off the Beavers of Oregon State, it was announced that College Gameday would be coming to Eugene for the matchup between the number 4 USC Trojans, and the number 10 Oregon Ducks. Hearing this confirmation brought back memories of our brief run at the national title in 2007. College Gameday's presence in Eugene this weekend reinforces that idea that Oregon is in fact still a contender to do some damage in the BCS in the remaining weeks of the season. After Oregon's week one disaster in Boise, few would have thought that only weeks later, arguably the biggest game of the week would be taking place in Eugene, on national television for the entire nation to see.

No one knows when the next time College Gameday will return to Eugene, so its presence this weekend presents a potential once in a lifetime opportunity for U of O students. As it occurred in 2007, I suspect that the Saturday morning agenda will be rather similar. Many of the die hard Duck fans, including my room mates and myself, will be waking up at about 2 o clock in the morning to get some food, and walk over to the broadcast site to reserve our place in the crowd. Some might consider that to be crazy, but is isn't every weekend that students have a chance to be on national television, cheering for their team. Whenever I see a production of College Gameday on television, I always mutter to myself, "That looks like the most fun I have ever had." Well this weekend, I have the chance to be a part of the loud, boisterous group that I always see on T.V.

One of the great things about Oregon is that our football team has been successful for quite some time. Because of this, University of Oregon students are presented with opportunities such as being on national television, when the team's success has made it worthy of receiving national attention. The buzz around campus is incredible as students with tickets prepare for the big game. I have no doubt that Autzen will be on fire this Saturday, and on Halloween no less!