BLOOMINGTON — It was a simple question, followed by a simple answer.

“Why would you wait outside for almost an entire day for ESPN’s College GameDay?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“There is literally nowhere else I would rather be than here right now.”

For the biggest games of each IU men’s basketball season in the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, students will line up very early to get a good spot at the front of the student section. That’s a much rarer sight for Indiana football, but the 7-0 start continues to change everything about this program.

IU junior Sam Foley drove past Memorial Stadium at 7:30 a.m. Friday, expecting a crowd already lining up for the GameDay pit. There was no one. He drove by again around 10 a.m., and still no fans stuck around. So he drove to the College Mall, bought some water, snacks and other necessities, drove back to the IU athletic complex around 11 a.m. and set up a folding chair on the sidewalk on E. 17th St.

Foley was the first student in line for the first-ever Saturday College GameDay in Bloomington prior to IU’s game against Washington. He didn’t think he would be the first; he just wanted to get a spot in line.

“I was a little surprised because my friends back home started making me nervous, telling me that people were going to stay here last night,” Foley said. The daily hoosier. “And I thought, ‘Shoot. Maybe I should go up (Thursday) evening.” And I thought, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ Two nights, I can’t do that. But then I came back and there’s no one there.”

Senior Daniel Tauberman arrived shortly after Foley. They didn’t know each other, but they knew they would have plenty of time to get to know each other. Fans will not be allowed to enter the pit area behind the GameDay set until 6:30 a.m. Saturday, after which the show will go live at 9 a.m.

Tauberman, like Foley, was prepared. He also had a lawn chair, a portable charger, board games, food and a friend who came later in the day with a sleeping bag and a soccer ball.

He also had an umbrella, which came in handy when a light rain fell early Friday afternoon. But the weather wouldn’t deter Tauberman.

‘It doesn’t mean anything. Been through it before. My roommate took my umbrella. I’m used to it. I think it was before the Purdue (basketball) game a few years ago, it was like they had freezing rain, and they basically just took their tarp and put it over the top,” Tauberman said. “This is light rain.”

While IU could host other major football games at Memorial Stadium for the rest of the season, and possibly next year and beyond, this is the only time College GameDay will be in town this year – and with a show so popular, there is no guarantee that this will happen. come back soon.

This is GameDay’s second appearance in Bloomington, but as host Rece Davis made clear Friday while speaking to local media, “there’s an asterisk” on that show. GameDay came in 2017 ahead of Thursday night’s season opener against Ohio State, and the show aired its entire duration live from Memorial Stadium, instead of the usual setting among a crowd of fans on Saturday morning.

“I’m looking forward to actually being among the Indiana fans,” Davis said. “We were at the stadium in 2017 and it was a great night and people were excited, but there’s something different about having our full footprint of the show and the full three hours, and starting the football day – and then tomorrow, enter the stadium for kick-off. Just a different vibe and a different energy about it when you get into it early in the morning. I’m sure people will go camping and we’ll have a huge crowd, and they’ll be loud and excited, and there’s just something energetic about that. And I think it’s very different when we go somewhere we haven’t been before.”

The GameDay crew has several ties to Indiana and its football program. The most notable is Lee Corso, who coached the Hoosiers from 1973 to 1982. The show will likely be a tribute to his time in Bloomington, and fans are eager to show him some love. Foley knew Corso led IU to its first-ever bowl victory – and was quick to add that he was confident current head coach Curt Cignetti will lead the Hoosiers to their first national championship.

This three-hour college football pregame show will be a unique opportunity for IU fans and Bloomington to showcase themselves to the nation. FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff was in town for last week’s game against Nebraska, but that show aired in 2019. GameDay, which has aired since 1987 and traveled to campuses since 1993, has a much larger footprint and more prestigious status in the sport. It has become a college football institution.

And that, like everything else, is why Foley thought it was worth camping for more than 19 hours to provide that experience.

“I feel like tomorrow will be a reason the nation can understand why Bloomington needs this so much. I feel like Bloomington has been kind of haunted over the years because of their football, and also kind of haunted by the basketball because the basketball hasn’t done that well. But I feel like this is just a great thing for Bloomington. I think it’s a great thing for IU fans,” Foley said. “I grew up in Martinsville, my grandparents had season tickets for the football games, so I grew up with Memorial Stadium. So it’s just nice to see that a successful team and the nation actually cares about our successful team.”

For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.

The daily hoosier –“Where Indiana fans gather when they’re not at Assembly”

Related