ESPN’s “College GameDay” rolls into Salt Lake City for the second time in three years on Saturday and will spotlight Utah’s football program as No. 24 Utah hosts No. 17 Cincinnati.
The attention from the nation’s most-watched college football pregame show doesn’t just benefit the football program, it also benefits the university as a whole.
As has been the case since 2015, “GameDay” will be broadcast from picturesque Presidents Circle — the doorstep of Utah’s campus — and will practically be a three-hour commercial for the University of Utah.
It’s the first time this season that “GameDay” has ventured outside of SEC or Big Ten territory, and for three hours on Saturday morning, Salt Lake City will be the center of the college football universe.
“It’s good for the program overall in the big picture, it’s great for the university, the program, the community, state of Utah. So I think it’s got so many positive things to it, positive aspects,” said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham.
The announcement that the traveling pregame show was coming to Salt Lake City was mostly met with excitement from Ute fans, but a corner of the fanbase had a little trepidation.
There’s a narrative that the Utes haven’t performed well in big-time games lately, whether that’s facing a ranked opponent or having a national pregame show on site ahead of a contest.
“College GameDay” has been on site for six regular-season games (five at home, one on the road), and the Utes have a 2-4 record in those appearances.
In “GameDay’s” first appearance in Salt Lake City, 2004, No. 5 Utah blew out BYU 52-21 to cap off a perfect regular season and become the first team from a non-Automatic Qualifying conference to earn a spot in a BCS bowl game.
“GameDay” was on hand in 2009 in Fort Worth, Texas, for a Top 25 showdown between No. 16 Utah and No. 4 TCU. The Horned Frogs dispatched the Utes 55-28 en route to a BCS bowl berth.
The show came to Salt Lake City in 2010 for a clash of unbeaten MWC teams vying for a BCS appearance. No. 3 TCU defeated No. 5 Utah 47-7 in one of the worst defeats in Utes history, which is where the genesis of the “GameDay curse” began.
Five years later, “GameDay” was back on Utah’s campus as the No. 5 Utes took on No. 23 Cal. Future pro Jared Goff was intercepted a whopping five times by Utah’s defense, which also recovered a fumble for six total turnovers, but the Utes turned it over twice themselves as they squeaked out a 30-24 win, led by Devontae Booker’s 222-yard performance.
That would be the last time the Utes won a game covered by “GameDay” or its Fox counterpart, “Big Noon Kickoff.”
The next year, Utah was once again in the spotlight as “GameDay” descended on campus for No. 17 Utah vs. No. 4 Washington. Utah tied the game at 24 with 9:07 left on a touchdown pass by Troy Williams, but the Utes allowed a 58-yard punt return with 3:25 left and couldn’t score on the next drive, falling 31-24.
Utah would host “College GameDay” one more time in 2023 following a surprising 6-1 start, including a 34-32 win over No. 18 USC in Los Angeles. The storybook start, led by backup quarterback Bryson Barnes and a stout Utah defense, soon turned into a nightmare as No. 8 Oregon dismantled No. 13 Utah 35-6.
Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” has originated from the site of a Utah game twice — both this season. “BNK” was in Salt Lake City for September’s game against Texas Tech, which was No. 16 Utah’s first loss of the season, a 34-10 defeat at the hands of then-No. 17 Red Raiders.
“BNK” was also live from Provo a few weeks ago as No. 23 Utah lost its third straight game to No. 15 BYU 24-21, dropping the Utes to 0-2 in “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show contests.
The combined regular-season record on “GameDay” and “BNK” for the Utes in the last 10 years is 1-4.
Does increased attention the pregame shows bring make the moment too big for the players? Is it hard to overcome the distractions that come with a show like “College GameDay?”
Whittingham and his staff try to treat this week — “College GameDay” in town, Big 12 title chances on the line and all — the same as any other.
“We just take it the same every week. You got to be very consistent with your approach, with your preparation. You can’t be on highs and lows,” Whittingham said.
“Every game is big. The next one’s the biggest because it’s the next one. That’s the mentality and never look past anybody, our players do a good job of that. But to us, every single week is a big game.”
His players have taken that to heart.
“They just preach always to block out the distractions. At the end of the day, it’s another game. That’s all it is,” said linebacker Lander Barton. “There might be a little bit more going on around it and the outside noise, but they just preach to just keep our heads down and work and just prepare like it’s any other week.”
There are some extra media demands that come with “GameDay” in town, but overall, Whittingham says that the show does a great job of staying out of the way of Utah’s program.
“Well, that’s the thing you want to avoid is distractions, and those shows, they do a good job of not really being a distraction for your guys. I mean, the biggest distraction is guys just knowing that they’re on the center stage and having those guys come to town, but they’re very non-invasive and for the players especially, and they get it,” Whittingham said.
While the 1-4 record in the past decade in games preceded by on-scene national pregame shows is a small sample size, it does beg the question: How have the Utes fared in big games as of late?
Since 2015, the Utes have faced 36 opponents that were ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 at the time of the contest and have a 14-22 record in those games.
There have been some crushing defeats in that time span — two Pac-12 championship games, especially the 2019 loss to Oregon, and the Rose Bowl losses stand out — but Utah has risen to the occasion for some of its best wins in that time span.
Of course, there were the two Pac-12 championship victories — 38-10 over Oregon and 47-24 over USC — that were the high-water mark for the program.
Utah has had some memorable regular-season “big game” wins too.
Who could forget the 62-20 shellacking of No. 13 Oregon at Autzen Stadium in 2015, or the 43-42 win over No. 7 USC at Rice-Eccles Stadium in 2022, when Cam Rising beat the Trojans with a two-point conversion run.
Since 2023, however, the Utes are 4-9 against AP Top 25 teams, but had backup quarterbacks at the helm in 2023 and 2024.
Utah broke a four-game AP Top 25 losing streak with a blowout win over a Sam Leavitt-less Arizona State team ranked No. 21 earlier this year, then the Utes lost to No. 15 BYU the next week.
On Saturday, another opportunity awaits. It’s a chance to beat a Top 25 team, stay in the Big 12 title race and get a victory with “College GameDay” in town.
Utah is a 10.5-point home favorite against Cincinnati, and ESPN’s matchup predictor gives the Utes an 80.5% chance to win.
If there is a “College GameDay” curse, Saturday is the time for the Utes to break it.