Depending on how Cal does at the start of this football season, the best ESPN College GameDay game at Cal would be game four against a good but not necessarily great Miami team. Cal could be undefeated then (though doubtful because Cal plays at Florida St. in game three), but even a 3 and 1 record then should be good enough early in the season for Cal to host a GameDay telecast, especially since Cal is only one of six large FBS teams that have not appeared on College GameDay, which ESPN is undoubtedly aware of. I have seen that stat posted in many articles and Cal can raise that point with ESPN.

A big incentive for ESPN to have Cal host GameDay is that Cal's The Play is uniformly recognized as the greatest footballl play in history, college or pro. Guests on the GameDay show could logically include Chancellor Lyons (who went to Cal and was at the The Play game -- hopefully he watched it), Joe Starkey, who called The Play on the radio, and Kevin Moen, who scored the winning touchdown for Cal on The Play.

An added incentive for ESPN to have Cal host the game is that Cal probably has one of the most picturesque stadiums and outside views from it in the country. Views west from it toward the Bay and the Golden Gate bridge, plus the view west from the the top of the hill from the east side of Memorial (where some game watchers sit) are likely unsurpassed anywhere.

If Cal hosts GameDay, especially if it wins the game, it could be a big boost to Cal's football program.

Please forward this post to Chancellor Lyons and Cal AD Jim Knowlton.

OK, first of all any California gameday broadcast without Marshawn Lynch needs to immediately rethink its priorities. I'd also like someone from the '75 team to go up in a Roth jersey and tell his story as it's one of the most indelible Cal Football moments in history. And I'd also love for a surviving member of Pappy Waldorf's teams to go up and underscore the historic program we once had as well as anyone who has a connection or academic understanding of Andy Smith's teams, complete with some of his incredible quotes and maybe a shot of the bench plaque with his quote. It also should have a quick rundown of legendary fan Bud "Dog" Turner and a shot of his plaque and his story and significance to the team. That would be my perfect gameday broadcast. Since we're in the ACC now they could have Paws go up there to talk about beating Clemson in the bowl game. Hopefully one of the people up there also mentions the NFL success of Cal players, especially at QB and all the greats we sent to the next level.

Secondly, as is always the case, the biggest obstacle to Cal game day is always competition. The other games that week include: a national championship rematch UW @ UM-Ann Arbor, Iowa @ Oh. St., Clemson @ FSU, Auburn @ Georgia (we could knock this one out if we beat Auburn on the road), Mizzou @ TAMU, and UC Los Angeles @ PSU-Happy Valley.

Idk if they're prioritizing location, history/tradition, novelty, or matchup but there are multiple highly ranked national matchups in there and I think that they might also like the storylines of historic teams in their first matchups as conference rivals. It's also been about 15 years since I watched game day so I don't remember if it's Disney or Fox but the network/conference allegiances could play into it as a factor too

.74% chance

I doubt the goofballs at ESPN could even find Memorial Stadium on a map.

ESPN owns and operates runs College GameDay. Haven't watched it in a while but but an eary season Cal game would be a natural for them to telecast. Like I said, Cal is only one of six big college teams have noy hosted it Cal did appear on a College GameDay game hosted by Utah, the game Goff threw five interceptions.

I have read Cal once was offered the chance to host College GameDay, but turned the offer down. I have no details on that.

Gobears49 said:

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ESPN owns and operates runs College GameDay. Haven't watched it in a while but but an eary season Cal game would be a natural for them to telecast. Like I said, Cal is only one of six big college teams have noy hosted it Cal did appear on a College GameDay game hosted by Utah, the game Goff threw five interceptions.

I have read Cal once was offered the chance to host College GameDay, but turned the offer down. I have no details on that.

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During the Tedford era, we played at OR on College Game Day. I think it was CBS Sports that had a Game Day like show at Cal. College Game Day was here for a basketball game against UCLA. I would be very surprised if Cal turned down any College Game Day.

Just win and good things will happen.

Go Bears!

I get my hopes up for Gameday every year, and then we usually proceed to not have nearly a good enough record to even make it a consideration. If we're 4-0/3-1 when a potentially top 10 Miami comes to Berkeley or even 6-1/5-2 when NC State comes to town, then maybe. Not holding my breath, though.

Cal has not hosted College GameDay.

https://volswire.usatoday.com/lists/a-look-at-every-power-five-football-school-that-has-not-hosted-espn-college-gameday/

The above article was written in 2022. Have we hosted College GameDay since then?

NO.

Gobears49 said:

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Depending on how Cal does at the start of this football season, the best ESPN College GameDay game at Cal would be game four against a good but not necessarily great Miami team. Cal could be undefeated then (though doubtful because Cal plays at Florida St. in game three), but even a 3 and 1 record then should be good enough early in the season for Cal to host a GameDay telecast, especially since Cal is only one of six large FBS teams that have not appeared on College GameDay, which ESPN is undoubtedly aware of. I have seen that stat posted in many articles and Cal can raise that point with ESPN.

A big incentive for ESPN to have Cal host GameDay is that Cal's The Play is uniformly recognized as the greatest footballl play in history, college or pro. Guests on the GameDay show could logically include Chancellor Lyons (who went to Cal and was at the The Play game -- hopefully he watched it), Joe Starkey, who called The Play on the radio, and Kevin Moen, who scored the winning touchdown for Cal on The Play.

An added incentive for ESPN to have Cal host the game is that Cal probably has one of the most picturesque stadiums and outside views from it in the country. Views west from it toward the Bay and the Golden Gate bridge, plus the view west from the the top of the hill from the east side of Memorial (where some game watchers sit) are likely unsurpassed anywhere.

If Cal hosts GameDay, especially if it wins the game, it could be a big boost to Cal's football program.

Please forward this post to Chancellor Lyons and Cal AD Jim Knowlton.

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Nah. It's just not in our DNA.

Good post but need to see what yarsthe CBS Sports show you refer to was broadcasted.

College GameDay has been broadcasted since 1993!

https://collegefootballnetwork.com/college-gameday-all-time-appearances-locations-hosts/

Gobears49 said:

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Cal has not hosted College GameDay.

https://volswire.usatoday.com/lists/a-look-at-every-power-five-football-school-that-has-not-hosted-espn-college-gameday/

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He's referring to basketball.

Look at Rece Davis' face.

Never seen a College GameDay for college basketball. It's a close to two hour affair, EXCLUDING THE ACTUAL GAME, for football. Never seen anything close to a two hour show, excluding the game, for college basketball.

I think we'll get Game Day in Memorial Stadium when we play Georgia Tech in 2028. It'll be the 100th anniversary of the Rose Bowl between Cal and Georgia Tech and everyone remembers the epic play of Wrong Way Riegels in that game. It was a game changer!

I've revised my estimate downward of Cals' chances of hosting Game Day.
They've had approx. 360 Game Days.
That's 0.28%

The dopes at ESPN couldn't find Memorial Stadium if they moved the entire structure to Bristol, Connecticut.

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

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I think we'll get Game Day in Memorial Stadium when we play Georgia Tech in 2028. It'll be the 100th anniversary of the Rose Bowl between Cal and Georgia Tech and everyone remembers the epic play of Wrong Way Riegels in that game. It was a game changer!

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"Everyone" remembers? Really? How old are you exactly?

Take a stroll on campus - or hell, ANYWHERE - and see if a single person remembers. The chance you find anyone who "remembers" that play is less than that of Cal hosting a College Game Day in your lifetime.

If we and Miami are both 4-0, Game Day will 100% be in Strawberry Canyon. What a day that would be.

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

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I think we'll get Game Day in Memorial Stadium when we play Georgia Tech in 2028. It'll be the 100th anniversary of the Rose Bowl between Cal and Georgia Tech and everyone remembers the epic play of Wrong Way Riegels in that game. It was a game changer!

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Yes, this game is like yesterday to me. Can't get it out of my head!

bearsandgiants said:

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If we and Miami are both 4-0, Game Day will 100% be in Strawberry Canyon. What a day that would be.

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100%? No.

Other games that would be more attractive to ESPN, even if Cal and Miami are 4-0:

1. Michigan at Washington

2. Iowa at Ohio St.

3. Michigan St at Oregon, if MSU is 5-0 and coming off a win Ohio St.

There are also a few SEC matchups they'd love if the currently unranked teams start hot.

GMP said:

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bearsandgiants said:

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If we and Miami are both 4-0, Game Day will 100% be in Strawberry Canyon. What a day that would be.

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100%? No.

Other games that would be more attractive to ESPN, even if Cal and Miami are 4-0:

1. Michigan at Washington

2. Iowa at Ohio St.

3. Michigan St at Oregon, if MSU is 5-0 and coming off a win Ohio St.

There are also a few SEC matchups they'd love if the currently unranked teams start hot.

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Michigan and Washington will likely already each have a loss at that point, and even if all of those teams were also 4-0, ESPN would still be coming to Berkeley because Miami would be #4 and we'd be #6. Let's just let it happen. Odds of us being 4-0 though are about 5%

bearsandgiants said:

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GMP said:

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bearsandgiants said:

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If we and Miami are both 4-0, Game Day will 100% be in Strawberry Canyon. What a day that would be.

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100%? No.

Other games that would be more attractive to ESPN, even if Cal and Miami are 4-0:

1. Michigan at Washington

2. Iowa at Ohio St.

3. Michigan St at Oregon, if MSU is 5-0 and coming off a win Ohio St.

There are also a few SEC matchups they'd love if the currently unranked teams start hot.

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Michigan and Washington will likely already each have a loss at that point, and even if all of those teams were also 4-0, ESPN would still be coming to Berkeley because Miami would be #4 and we'd be #6. Let's just let it happen. Odds of us being 4-0 though are about 5%

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#6?!

MathTeacherMike said:

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Eastern Oregon Bear said:

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I think we'll get Game Day in Memorial Stadium when we play Georgia Tech in 2028. It'll be the 100th anniversary of the Rose Bowl between Cal and Georgia Tech and everyone remembers the epic play of Wrong Way Riegels in that game. It was a game changer!

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"Everyone" remembers? Really? How old are you exactly?

Take a stroll on campus - or hell, ANYWHERE - and see if a single person remembers. The chance you find anyone who "remembers" that play is less than that of Cal hosting a College Game Day in your lifetime.

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This will serve as a reminder to me that sarcasm doesn't work well on message boards.

Of course almost no one remembers it today as the 1929 Rose Bowl was almost 100 years ago and only captured on low quality black and white movie film. I was satirizing the current drive to memorialize a play that happened 40 years ago and doesn't mean much to the vast college football world that doesn't live and die by Cal or Stanford football. Generally, anyone under 50. Because we had video and a memorable if not great radio call by Joe Starkey, it still gets shown every once in a while, but for most people, if they remember it at all, it's just as a weird novelty.

Anyway, the Wrong Way Riegels play was sort of an anti-The Play because it was a bizarre disaster for Cal and the resulting safety cost Cal the Rose Bowl 8-7. For those who are interested, I'll embed a few videos (two of them under 30 seconds) about that play. Unfortunately both videos of the play itself have been edited for some pointless reason.

This video cuts away to a crowd shot and misses a portion of the run and then compounds it by cutting away before the tackle on the play.



This clip from ESPN is better, but it also tries to save a couple of seconds by editing out part of the run.



This 10 minute video gives a fuller explanation of what happened (though the quotes during the play from Ron Fimrite's book seem improbable to me and disagrees with a recorded description of what happened by Roy Riegels himself). It also describes how Roy Riegels dealt with it over the rest of his life (with considerable grace - not unlike Gary Tyrell).

GMP said:

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bearsandgiants said:

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GMP said:

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bearsandgiants said:

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If we and Miami are both 4-0, Game Day will 100% be in Strawberry Canyon. What a day that would be.

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100%? No.

Other games that would be more attractive to ESPN, even if Cal and Miami are 4-0:

1. Michigan at Washington

2. Iowa at Ohio St.

3. Michigan St at Oregon, if MSU is 5-0 and coming off a win Ohio St.

There are also a few SEC matchups they'd love if the currently unranked teams start hot.

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Michigan and Washington will likely already each have a loss at that point, and even if all of those teams were also 4-0, ESPN would still be coming to Berkeley because Miami would be #4 and we'd be #6. Let's just let it happen. Odds of us being 4-0 though are about 5%

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#6?!

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Absolutely! Have faith. Road wins at Auburn and FSU plus SDSU and a sound defeat of Davis and we absolutely rocket in the polls. I don't think this will happen though .

I'm biased. I hosted TWO The Play parties, both with constant replays of The Play with a Big Game trivia contest. Guess I'm weird, the Dems favorite word, which I think is weird.