The thought immediately occurred to “College GameDay” analyst Kirk Herbstreit when he heard that this year’s Masters would move into the heart of football season.
“As soon as I heard that, I thought, ‘Wow, wonder if there’s a chance we could take the show (there),'" Herbstreit said.
It was just a fleeting thought at first. He figured “there’s no way that will happen.” Yet, “here we are,” he said this week. “This is going to be a historic moment for the show.”
“College GameDay,” ESPN’s traveling pregame show that has become part of the culture of college football over the past three decades, will broadcast live from Augusta National Golf Club from 9 a.m. until noon Saturday, starting on ESPN2 and moving to ESPN when coverage of the Masters’ delayed second round concludes.
It’s an improbable pairing of college football’s signature pregame television show and golf’s marquee event.
Usually held at campus sites, the show will be conducted on a set that has been constructed at a telegenic spot overlooking Ike’s Pond and the 9th green of Augusta National’s Par 3 course.
Saturday’s show will merge the program’s core mission with its setting. Host Rece Davis will be joined on-site by Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, David Pollack and Maria Taylor and by Lee Corso from his home in Orlando. Expect them to discuss the day’s notable games across the country and, presumably, this week’s postponement or cancellation of at least 15 games because of COVID-19 issues. But all of the football coverage will be intertwined for this one episode of the show with the Masters.
ESPN approached Augusta National officials months ago about the idea of bringing the football show to the famous golf tournament. Club officials responded with enthusiasm, seeing the show as a way to expose the tournament to a new audience in a new season.
“They were tremendous, and our people worked very hard to be able to create a set and find a place that would not be disruptive in any way, shape, form or fashion,” Davis said on a Zoom call with media members this week. “I think everybody’s goal from the beginning was to make this a reality.”
“This is the one silver lining of 2020,” Herbstreit said.
Davis called Augusta National “one of the cathedrals of sport” and added: “You want to go in there and be extraordinarily respectful of that venue.”
He has been there twice previously, the first time to cover the 1992 Masters while working in Georgia as sports director of WRBL-TV in Columbus and the second time to play the course at the invitation of Augusta National member Lou Holtz.
The Masters is being played without fans in attendance because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the “College GameDay” crew already has had to adjust to fan-less sets this season. Before this year, the show typically aired amid raucous gatherings of students and fans.
“It’s very strange to do a show (without fans) when you’re used to a live crowd and a live audience,” Herbstreit said. “That energy and the reaction to discussion and debate – you know, they’re booing, they’re cheering. There’s just so much natural juice that you get, and to not have that has been a very big challenge for our show, because we love our fans and look at them like they’re a member of the set, really.”
The 11-time Emmy Award-winning show has originated from improbable settings before, including New York’s Times Square for one episode in 2017 and an aircraft carrier in 2012.
“The show has a really unique ability to be able to fit in and make connections,” Davis said.
But its most improbable setting yet is the Masters, which was shifted from April to November this year because of the pandemic.
“Just because we want things to return to normal, hopefully this will be the only opportunity to have a college football show while the Masters is going on,” Davis said. “So I think just because of the nature of that, it would have to go to the top of the list (of places the show has visited).”
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