Get Your ESPN College GameDay Face On!
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 11, 2010) - It might be cold in Lexington, but Rupp Arena is sure to be hot this weekend as ESPN College GameDay rolls into town. The hit show, which airs from 11 a.m. until noon on ESPN (local Insight channel 28), will air live from Lexington for the first time since 2007 on Saturday, Feb. 13. With a men's basketball team that is 23-1, a women's team that is 20-3 and seven athletic teams that are ranked in the Top 20 in their respective polls, Wildcat pride has never been higher.
UK hopes to capitalize on that spirit and be the first school in the history of College GameDay to "pack the house" and completely fill the arena for the show. Tickets for the event were distributed in a single day and the excitement has been building for weeks.
This week, student organizations participated in a banner competition. Groups created and displayed banners welcoming GameDay to campus. The sisters of Alpha Delta Pi created the winning banner and received tickets for some of their members to attend GameDay. (Photos of all the banners are below.)
Last night, the UK Alumni Association hosted a spirit night and poster painting party for students. Students were provided with poster board, paint, markers and food - all they had to bring were their creative ideas - to make spirited expressions for the show. Several hundred students made posters for the show and a few lucky ones won tickets for GameDay.
UK Parking and Transportation Services is making getting to GameDay a little easier by offering their basketball shuttle service. For only $3 dollars round-trip, students and fans can get a ride to Rupp Arena and avoid parking downtown and walking in the cold. For more information on the shuttle service, visit www.uky.edu/Parking/transportation-shuttle-rupp.html.
Fans won't be disappointed in the College GameDay festivities. The doors will open at Rupp Arena at 8:30 a.m. ESPN will do a live look-in during SportsCenter at 10 a.m. GameDay will air live from 11 a.m. until noon. Following the broadcast, UK is planning a series of special events and activities to celebrate the GameDay visit.
· Head Men's Basketball Coach John Calipari and UK President Lee Todd will address the crowd;
· Former UK players will be on hand to take part in basketball competitions, interact with fans and sign autographs;
· UK will hand out a commemorative, limited edition UK2K poster that will only be available to GameDay attendees.
Calipari also will use this opportunity to illustrate how UK Athletics is committed to enhancing the entire university community. He will help the university launch and promote the President’s Scholarship Initiative, a major fundraising campaign that is aimed at providing young Kentuckians with the greatest gift – the opportunity to attend the University of Kentucky and learn from UK’s world-class faculty. Calipari is a co-chair of the President’s Scholarship Initiative.