College Football Gameday 2011: Preview Show More Important Now Than Ever

There are few traditions more sacred among college football fans than getting up on Saturday morning and seeing what the likes of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso have to say about the day’s games.

People that have worked hard all week view it as the official start to their weekend. There is a day of college football games ahead of them and, for many, a bad slate of college football games is 10x better than the best day at work.

Fraternity brothers find it to be the perfect way to start their day after waking up with a wicked hangover form last night’s keg party. For those guys, it’s a signal that round two of their weekend-long party, centered around their school’s college football game is under way.

It’s rare in this age of social media and short attention spans that a television show has as much influence as Gameday does. It speaks to how well the show has adapted to the times.

When fans began craving instant analysis from several different game sites, they began dispatching reporters to multiple places.

When fans wanted analysis from former players, they added Desmond Howard to the mix.

Given how well they have changed in the past, there is no reason to believe that they will stop doing so. I expect more integration with social media and more reporters in even more locations. ESPN will do whatever it is that they need to do to keep College Gameday a one-stop shop for college football fans looking for analysis and predictions on all the big games.

For my money, there is no better sports show on television. Fowler pilots the ship admirably, Herbstreit plays the straight man well and has a vast reserve of information on teams and players each week. Lee Corso plays his kooky, scatter-brained former coach role to a T, and the bit where he dons a team-specific outfit is television gold.

No show lasts as long as Gameday without being great. They have been going strong since 1987 and there is no end in sight.