LAMORINDA WEEKLY | ESPN College GameDay coming to Moraga | St. Mary's College | SMC Moraga


ESPN College GameDay comes to Moraga for the Saint Mary's Gonzaga game Feb. 11. From left, hosts Rece Davis, Jay Williams, Seth Greenberg and Jay Bilas. Photo provided

The Saint Mary's Gaels will have a chance to escape from the shadow of their archrival before a national television audience as ESPN's College GameDay will make its first ever trip to McKeon Pavilion Feb. 11 for the Saint Mary's-Gonzaga West Coast Conference men's basketball showdown. The game airs at 5:15 p.m. with the GameDay evening edition leading into the primetime telecast.

For those unfamiliar with College GameDay, the pregame program usually draws out hundreds of fans and often a celebrity guest.

No. 20 Saint Mary's routed University of San Diego 71-27 on Feb. 4 to improve to 21-2, 11-2 in the WCC while Gonzaga easily handled Santa Clara the same day, and will likely bring its No. 1 ranking to Moraga for the marquee matchup with the Gaels. The Bulldogs (24-0, 12-0) defeated Saint Mary's 79-56 in Spokane in January.

According to ESPN, each of last three teams hosting College GameDay for the first time won the game that day: Texas A&M, Wichita State and Southern Methodist.

GameDay is hosted by Rece Davis, with Dan Shulman calling the game along with Jay Bilas and reporter Maria Taylor.

- Nick Marnell