ESPN’s College GameDay will air live from Penn State’s HUB Lawn on Saturday morning, according to an announcement from Penn State Athletics.
Henderson Drive will be closed beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday in order to accommodate College GameDay’s crew. The road will be closed until approximately 6 p.m. Saturday.
In addition to GameDay, ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ is “expected to have a presence” at the set starting at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, according to a release. ESPN will also air segments from a number of its different shows — including “SportsCenter” and “Get Up!” — from the set throughout the weekend. ESPN will air College Football Live from the HUB Lawn at 3 p.m. Friday.
The network announced last Saturday night that it would bring College GameDay to State College for this weekend’s White Out game between Penn State and Michigan.
College GameDay operated on Old Main lawn prior to each of the last two Penn State White Out games, and aired from outside the Bryce Jordan Center in 2009 during its last appearance in Happy Valley prior to the 2017 season. Although the exact reason for the change wasn’t confirmed, Old Main’s iconic bell tower is currently undergoing renovations and covered by black scaffolding.
Although the network didn’t confirm any additional activities, there were a host of activities to take part in during the days leading up to Saturday morning in previous years. ESPN hosted cornhole tournaments on Old Main lawn in each of the past two years, and set up a replica GameDay desk outside for fans to take their pictures with.
Penn State Athletics also released a number of rules for fans who may want to stand in the pit for the broadcast:
- Fans may begin lining up for access to the pit Saturday at 5:30 a.m. ET, with the pit being open at approximately 6:30 a.m. No overnight camping will be permitted. Restrooms are available in the HUB-Robeson Center.
- Fans entering the pit will be screened by security using metal detection wands.
- No bags, backpacks or purses are permitted.
- No offensive, vulgar, inappropriate or solicitation signage will be allowed (i.e. no political, religious, or .com, .org, .net signage).
- No signs or flags on a stick.
- No pens, pencils, markers or dry erase boards.
- No food or drinks.
- Throwing of objects is prohibited.
College GameDay will begin its broadcast at 9 a.m. Saturday, and No. 7 Penn State football’s White Out contest against No. 16 Michigan is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. on ABC
