Updated 1:36 p.m. Monday:
The Kansas football program waited decades for its first taste of ESPN’s “College GameDay.” Now, the Jayhawks have lured both that show and its Fox competitor to Lawrence in the span of two seasons.
For the first time, “Big Noon Kickoff” will come to KU when the Jayhawks host No. 6 Oklahoma on Saturday. The show will lead into the 11 a.m. Central Time (noon Eastern) broadcast on Fox.
“I think it’s another great opportunity for us to show the progress of our program, to show what this group is all about, where we’re heading,” head coach Lance Leipold said Monday. “Again, same thing if they weren’t coming, but that’s great on a national stage for the college football world to see the Kansas Jayhawks.”
He also called the selection “mind-blowing” as a demonstration of how the program is developing.
“Big Noon” began visiting campuses on a weekly basis last season after gradually increasing its number of on-site visits since its 2019 inception.
The show generally visits the site of Fox’s noon Eastern broadcast — this past weekend, for example, it went to Ohio State-Penn State — meaning that KU’s selection for that timeslot, announced last Monday, had served as a strong indication “Big Noon” could be in the offing. The show has also been known, however, to travel to campuses that are hosting non-Fox or non-noon games. But the network and KU Athletics officially announced on social media Sunday afternoon that Lawrence would host next week’s pregame show.
As it receives this selection, KU is benefiting from a general lack of marquee matchups in next weekend’s slate, the fact that “GameDay” is going to Salt Lake City for a game between No. 13 Utah and No. 8 Oregon (which is actually going to air on Fox right after KU-OU) and the Sooners’ undefeated record.
OU (7-0, 4-0 Big 12 Conference) survived a scare from UCF and stopped a late two-point conversion try to win 31-29 at home Saturday. The Sooners had already beaten Cincinnati, Iowa State and rival Texas in Big 12 play.
“Big Noon” went to Cincinnati on Sept. 23 for that OU game, which the Sooners won 20-6.
KU will enter its matchup with OU coming off this weekend’s open date. The Jayhawks let a potential road win at Oklahoma State slip away in the fourth quarter and fell 39-32 on Oct. 14.
KU is also hosting its homecoming for the OU game, preceded by a series of events all week on campus. Athletic director Travis Goff said on 810 WHB’s “The Program” on Oct. 10 that he expected the game to sell out “in really reasonable short order and then we got one of the best atmospheres in the country.”
AP Photo/Colin E. Braley
