ESPN’s College GameDay returning to Penn State

Nittany Lion fans have been pushing for this to happen. Heck, host Rece Davis was even sent gallons of ice cream from the Berkey Creamery.

Well, the social media lobbying and ice cream worked: College GameDay is coming to Happy Valley.

For the first time since 2009, the GameDay crew — Davis, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and more — will be on-hand next Saturday morning prior to Penn State’s primetime White Out game against Michigan, the university announced on Twitter on Saturday evening.

Yep, Corso will be choosing headgear for either the No. 3 Nittany Lions (6-0) or No. 17 Wolverines (5-1). The show, making its sixth trip to State College, begins at 9 a.m. on ESPN. The game kicks off at Beaver Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

Penn State also announced its College Football Live also will originate from the set on campus Friday.

This has been anticipated since the preseason. With a relatively weak Week 8 slate, it made it an easy choice. With the Nittany Lions undefeated after rolling through six straight opponents, it made it an even easier selection.

Penn State fans might not remember fondly GameDay’s previous appearance on campus. The last time Corso and crew visited State College, No. 4 Penn State was upset by Iowa 21-10 on Sept. 26, 2009.

Corso grabbed the Nittany Lion headgear that day — the most recent time he did so. GameDay was on hand for Penn State road games at Alabama and Ohio State in 2010, and Corso correctly picked against the Nittany Lions. He chose poorly last December, though, selecting the Badgers in the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis.

We’ll see what Corso does next Saturday — and what kind of clever signs Penn State fans can come up with.

This story was originally published October 14, 2017 at 8:29 PM with the headline "ESPN’s College GameDay returning to Penn State."