[media-credit name=’Ben Smidt’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]The ESPN College GameDay crew will return to Madison for the second year in a row and the third time overall when they set up in the practice field north of Camp Randall Saturday morning.

The show will broadcast live starting at 9:30 a.m. The weekly ESPN Radio GameDay show will also air from the same location.

College GameDay, ESPN’s Saturday morning college football preview show, has made a tradition of traveling to college campuses across the country for live broadcasts.

The show features a triumvirate of sports analysts in Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler. Fowler acts as the host and moderator for Corso and Herbstreit, who are often viewed as the stars of the show. The highlight of every show comes when Corso and Herbstreit pick the winners for the weekend’s games, culminating with the feature game for which Corso wears the head of the mascot of whichever team he selects.

This is the third time Wisconsin has hosted the pre-game show. The first GameDay visit came during the 1999 season when Wisconsin played Michigan. The second visit came last season in preparation for the Purdue game. The Badgers, however, are 0-2 when GameDay visits Madison, losing to the Wolverines 21-16 and Purdue 26-23.

After being named No. 9 on Sports Illustrated’s list of best college football weekends, Badger fans will get their chance to show off for the national television audience. The prospect of seeing the show has many Wisconsin fans excited.

“It’s something at least that me and my friends are talking about, we’re getting excited about,” UW senior Matt Anderson said from the line of students waiting to redeem their ticket vouchers. “It’s good that we’ve been winning, so [College GameDay] would come, because I live right by where they set up so we always get to see it and go to it.”

UW junior Howard Schellenger was not nearly as excited as Anderson by the prospect of GameDay coming to campus.

“It’s a little too early in the morning,” Schellenger said, a sentiment that might be held by many students around campus.

The game will be ESPN’s featured game of the week, with Wisconsin and Penn State kicking off at 4:45 p.m. The evening game will give the Badgers and Nittany Lions plenty of exposure as the game will play out in front of a national television audience.

“It’s a good thing for the program,” Schellenger said. “If we play well it will generate a lot of excitement about the team.”

While many Badger football fans are excited about the exposure that College GameDay and a late starting time will give the team, there are some on campus who see this as a different type of opportunity.

“[The late start time] gives us a little more time to hit the sauce,” UW senior Kasey Deiss said jokingly.

The practice field, located between Breese Terrace and Lot 17, will open its gates at 8 a.m. for the GameDay loyal.