College GameDay returning to Rupp Arena for third time in five years
February 14, 2014
By Matt Overing
The Worldwide Leader in Sports is making another trip to Lexington.
Set to broadcast in primetime at Rupp Arena for the third time in five years, ESPN coordinating producer Brett Austin said the College GameDay crew always looks forward to the visit.
“Every place we go has its own story,” Austin said. “But Rupp Arena is one of the crown jewels of college basketball. To have the opportunity to do a show there, we’re chomping at the bit to do it.”
Chomping is exactly what UK fans will not want to see on Saturday. The Cats will play the University of Florida in what Austin considers the premier SEC game of the season.
“For Florida at UK, this is the type of show we’ve been building for several weeks, several months,” Austin said.
UK holds the attendance record at College GameDay when 22,144 fans showed up before UK played the University of Tennessee in 2010, according to UK Athletics.
Austin predicted at least 15,000 to 20,000 fans to show up on Saturday.
“The Big Blue Nation brings it every year,” Austin said. “We go to a lot of sites where they’ll have up and down years. It seems like every year UK fans are passionate about their team.”
That was shown last year, the only year that UK did not make the NCAA tournament under head coach John Calipari. UK hosted College GameDay when the University of Missouri came to Lexington on Feb. 23. The crowd that showed up for College GameDay was the highest of the season with 15,087 fans in attendance, according to UK Athletics.
“It seems like every year the state of Kentucky is all about basketball,” Austin said. “Some SEC schools have football season and the ‘other’ season. That’s not the same in Kentucky. Last year was a down year? We couldn’t tell.”
Austin said that UK fans are great for television.
“The atmosphere and intensity level at UK and inside Rupp Arena is incredible,” Austin said. “It doesn’t matter what kind of year UK is having, there are no down years at UK. The fans are totally engaged. For us doing a television show, there’s nothing better.”
UK is a program that Austin says is “built for success.”
“Any time we can get to Rupp Arena to do a show, we’re there,” Austin said. “We’re game.”
