ESPN College Sports Update – Aug. 26

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ESPN College Sports Update – Aug. 26

Photo of Rachel Margolis Siegal Rachel Margolis Siegal Follow on Twitter August 26, 2013

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College Football: 2013 Season Begins with 46 Games on ESPN Networks; Studio Coverage from Multiple Sites
ESPN will kick off the 2013 college football season with national coverage of 46 games in five days as part of the sixth annual DICK’s Sporting Goods Kickoff Week from Thursday, Aug. 29, to Monday, Sept. 2. In the first week of the season, ESPN will provide national distribution of 25 more games than every other national network combined. Full Release

College GameDay Opens First Weekend at Clemson with a Four-Hour Show
ESPN’s iconic college football pregame show College GameDay Built by The Home Depot starts the season Saturday, Aug. 31, with an unprecedented four hours (9 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET) of features, analysis and discussion from the campus of Clemson University. GameDay visited Death Valley on October 21, 2006, the first and only time Clemson has hosted the show. The No. 8 Tigers will open their season later that night against the fifth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs during Saturday Night Football at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Hosted by Chris Fowler with Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack with reporting by Samantha Ponder, Tom Rinaldi, Scott Van Pelt and Gene Wojciechowski, GameDay’s August 31 edition will preview all the day’s matchups in its longest installment to date leading into the Rice at No. 7 Texas A&M game (1 p.m., ESPN).

After opening weekend, GameDay’s three-hour Saturday slot will be televised in its entirety on ESPN with the 9 – 10 a.m. hour hosted by Fowler and various segments anchored by Ponder. Corso, Herbstreit, Howard and Pollack will all contribute as well.

Get Up.  It’s GameDay – ESPN Debuts New College GameDay Campaign
As the 27th season of College GameDay Built by the Home Depot begins this Saturday, ESPN is launching a new campaign that celebrates the passion of college football fans and the excitement on college campuses when GameDay comes to town. The first two spots, “Get Up for 9 a.m.” and “Anthem” debut today, with additional ones launching in the upcoming weeks.  There’s also an extended 60-second version of “Anthem,” which will run on social media.

The integrated campaign, developed in collaboration with creative agency 72 and Sunny, introduces the tagline “Get Up. It’s GameDay” with a revamped tone, music and look across multiple platforms, while pushing to GameDay’s new 9 a.m. ET start time.

The new campaign aims to capture the emotion of college football fandom by connecting fans to the breathtaking moments that make GameDay unique and unpredictable each and every Saturday. In addition to the TV spots, the campaign will use GameDay’s digital, mobile and social media extensions to engage directly with college football fans. Viewers are encouraged to use the hashtag #GetUp4GameDay throughout each show.

GameDay’s season opener on Saturday, Aug. 31, will be an unprecedented four hours (9 a.m. – 1 p.m.) of features, analysis and discussion from the campus of Clemson University.  GameDay last visited Death Valley on October 21, 2006, the first and only time Clemson has hosted the show. The No. 8 Tigers will open their season later that night against the fifth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs during Saturday Night Football at 8 p.m. on ABC.

ESPN.com Kick Starting College Football Season with Wide-Variety of Content
ESPN.com has opening weekend covered with game previews, season, game and bowl predictions, along with “GameDay Kickoff” with Rece Davis, who sets the stage for opening day and weekend. This week’s highlights:

Monday

  • On The Mark – Mark Schlabach reveals his player of the year, makes some predictions, and more (link)
  • Expert predictions: ESPN’s college football experts predict the conference winners and more (link)
  • Bowl projections by Schlabach and Brad Edwards (link)

Tuesday

  • 100 reasons why CFB rules – Gene Wojceichowski looks at 100 reasons why he (and we) love college football and can’t wait for kickoff
  • Hot or not – Schlabach breaks down what will be in and out in the college football world this season

Thursday

  • GameDay Kickoff – Rece Davis sets the stage for opening day and weekend, experts predict the games and what to watch for and more

ESPNU Kicks off Start of College Football with Two New Shows
ESPNU will debut two new shows — #Great8 Plays and Dari and Mel — and welcome the return of college football programming this week as fans prepare for the season’s opening kick.

#Great8 Plays, debuting today at 4:30 p.m., is a new half-hour show pitting the best eight plays from the weekend against each other in a bracket challenge. Today’s show will review the best eight plays of last season. Dari and Mel, hosted by ESPNU’s Dari Nowkhah and NFL draft expert Mel Kiper, has been a Saturday staple on ESPN Radio since its debut in 2011. On Saturday, Aug. 31, it will join The Herd with Colin Cowherd as ESPNU’s second televised college radio show. Dari and Mel will air live every Saturday at 9 a.m.

In addition, the network’s returning fall line-up will include new seasons of CFB Daily, Film Room, Final Verdict and All-Access, themed this week for ESPN kickoff. CFB Daily will return with a regular guest line-up — including Tajh Boyd, quarterback for Clemson, and first-year Arkansas head coach Bret Beilema —  joining the show every Wednesday in addition to a  weekly  special CFB Daily: The Experts, featuring rotating ESPN college football insiders on Tuesdays. Also, on Wednesdays throughout the fall, Joe Tessitore will call-in to discuss “Heismanology.”

This week Final Verdict (Mon.), The Experts (Tue.) and Film Room (Wed.) will review 2012 and preview the 2013 season while All-Access will feature back-to-back episodes on Wednesday, Aug. 28, going inside both Virginia Tech and Mississippi State.  ESPNU will lead into football’s opening weekend with an in-depth ESPNU College Football Kickoff on August 29, at 6 p.m. to discuss the games ahead.

A full list of college football programming across networks on ESPN’s college syllabus here: https://es.pn/1bAom8c

ESPN Announces Sunday Women’s College Basketball Package on ESPN
The top Division I women’s basketball programs in the nation will be showcased in a new ESPN Sunday afternoon package, in addition to ESPN2’s Big Monday presented by Bud Light series. The five-week series – a first for women’s college basketball – will begin February 2. The popular weekly Big Monday series on ESPN2, in its eighth season, will run from January 13 to March 3, including doubleheaders on January 27 and February 10. Full release

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Photo of Rachel Margolis Siegal Rachel Margolis Siegal Follow on Twitter August 26, 2013
Photo of Rachel Margolis Siegal

Rachel Margolis Siegal

A part of the Internal Communications team at ESPN, I began with the network in 2010 as part of the College Sports PR team. Always an avid sports fan and not an athlete – I grew up a huge fan of the Hartford Whalers, while also watching my brother compete at different levels. I became the manager of several high school sports teams and continued that hobby into college. While at Quinnipiac, I worked in the Sports Information Department, which led me to a summer internship at the New Haven Ravens, a AA baseball team, and an eventual job with the Athletic Communications Department at the University of Connecticut. After my five-year stint at Connecticut, I spent six years as Director of Communications at the BIG EAST Conference in Providence, R.I. before joining ESPN.
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