 | | | ESPN College GameDay comes to Moraga for the Saint Mary's Gonzaga game Feb. 11. From left, hosts Rece Davis, Jay Williams, Seth Greenberg and Jay Bilas. Photo provided | | | | | | The Saint Mary's Gaels will have a chance to escape from the shadow of their archrival before a national television audience as ESPN's College GameDay will make its first ever trip to McKeon Pavilion Feb. 11 for the Saint Mary's-Gonzaga West Coast Conference men's basketball showdown. The game airs at 5:15 p.m. with the GameDay evening edition leading into the primetime telecast.
For those unfamiliar with College GameDay, the pregame program usually draws out hundreds of fans and often a celebrity guest.
No. 20 Saint Mary's routed University of San Diego 71-27 on Feb. 4 to improve to 21-2, 11-2 in the WCC while Gonzaga easily handled Santa Clara the same day, and will likely bring its No. 1 ranking to Moraga for the marquee matchup with the Gaels. The Bulldogs (24-0, 12-0) defeated Saint Mary's 79-56 in Spokane in January.
According to ESPN, each of last three teams hosting College GameDay for the first time won the game that day: Texas A&M, Wichita State and Southern Methodist.
GameDay is hosted by Rece Davis, with Dan Shulman calling the game along with Jay Bilas and reporter Maria Taylor.
- Nick Marnell
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA