Everything to know about ESPN’s presence in Lawrence this weekend
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KCTV) - ESPN’s College GameDay -- the football version -- will arrive in Lawrence Thursday for the first time at the University of Kansas. Beginning a weekend of festivities leading up to No. 19 Kansas’ matchup with No. 17 TCU, the Home Depot Bus arrives Thursday at 2 p.m. at the south end of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
The show is headed to Lawrence following a 5-0 start for the Jayhawks. It’s the first 5-0 start for KU since 2009. Saturday’s matchup between ranked programs is the first Big 12 game between two ranked teams in Lawrence since No. 19 Kansas hosted No. 8 Texas Tech Oct. 25, 2008.
On Friday, television segments will be filmed beginning at 6:45 a.m. Pat McAfee will host The Pat McAfee Show live on set at 12 p.m., for an hour with fans welcome to attend. ESPN’s College Football Live will be broadcast on set live at 2 p.m. with Jen Lada, Desmond Howard and David Pollack.
ESPN’s flagship college football show will set up its stage on The Hill, northeast of the Campanile. During the show, the stage will face southwest. Fans hoping to attend College GameDay can do so for free, and the “pit” opens for fans at 5:30 a.m. Leading up to College GameDay, segments will be filmed on set at 6:45 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning.
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College GameDay will air from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. The first two hours of the show will be set on The Hill before the crew will head inside Memorial Stadium for the final hour leading up to kickoff.
Bags, food and drinks, pens, pencils, markers or dry erase boards and signs on sticks are not permitted in the pit. However, those rules do not apply to the general fan area.
The university said parking lots will open at 6 a.m. for those with valid football parking passes in the tailgating lots around Memorial Stadium. Anyone without a parking permit is encouraged to park on the south side of campus or in the two downtown parking garages at 8th and Vermont or 6th and New Hampshire. A football shuttle will take fans to the stadium with stops at lot 72 (Burge Union) and lot 34 (Price Computing Center). The shuttle begins at 6 a.m.
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Parking is also available on campus without a permit in lots 90, 125, 127, 70, 71, and the Central District parking garage. All parking near the stadium will be closed to vehicular traffic beginning Friday evening and overnight.
With segments of K-10 and 23rd Street undergoing construction, fans are encouraged to arrive early to avoid delays and/or seek alternate routes.
The football game between the Jayhawks and Horned Frogs will kick off at 11 a.m. and be broadcast on Fox Sports 1.
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