Indiana
Indiana Is New Turf For ESPN College GameDay; Personalities Excited To Be Here
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – To keep things purely factual, ESPN College GameDay has been to Indiana before. The iconic college football pregame show was hosted from Memorial Stadium at the 2017 opening game on a Thursday night.
That is a fact, but it’s also true that Indiana has never hosted the Saturday version of the show. In terms of the circus-like atmosphere the show is famous for, that distinction makes all the difference in the world.
ESPN College GameDay will begin its version of road show madness at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday. The show will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPNU. The game itself, which kicks off at noon, is not on ESPN. It will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
College GameDay host Rece Davis enjoys it when College GameDay heads to a new site. Even he acknowledged that the 2017 appearance was only a teaser for the real thing.
“We were in the stadium in 2017. It was a great night, and people were excited. But there’s a little something different about having our full footprint of the show, the full three hours and starting the day of football,” Davis said to the Indiana media on Friday at Memorial Stadium. “It’s just a different vibe and a different energy about that.”
College GameDay does its best to host at the site that tells the best story of college football on that weekend. Unlike some of its competitors, ESPN does not hesitate to host the program at sites of games it is not broadcasting.
Davis knows Indiana is going to be fired up for the iconic show, which began in 1987 and started visiting campus sites in 1993. Over the years, it’s become part of college football tradition itself. Former Indiana coach Lee Corso, who has been on the show since its inception, has become famous for his personality and antics on the morning show.
“I’m looking forward to actually being among the Indiana fans,” Davis said. “It’s a lot different when we go some place where we haven’t been before. When we go to Ohio State, we go to Alabama, we’re treated well, we’re treated great, wonderful people.
“But it’s almost like, ‘Hey, you guys are back. Did you guys pay the property taxes and everything? I know we’re all neighbors here.’ You know, it’s like they’re used to seeing us,” Davis said.
With or without the Corso tie-in, Indiana’s football team had to put itself on ESPN’s radar to get the show in the first place. Indiana is 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten heading into its game against Washington. Curt Cignetti’s rapid turnaround has turned heads around the college football world.
“The adjective I’ve used is crisp, and what I mean by that is they execute. They’re not sloppy. There’s not confusion. A lot of that is attributable to coach (Mike) Shanahan (co-offensive coordinator), coach Cignetti, coach (Tino) Sunseri (co-offensive coordinator),” Davis said.
Quarterback Kurtis Rourke was also mentioned as a key part of Indiana’s success, but he won’t play against Washington with his right thumb injury. Tayven Jackson will play in his place.
“(Jackson) comes in the game, and I’m like, they’re going to run the ball and get out of here with a win,” ESPN personality “Stanford Steve” Couglin said. “No. The first six plays are passes, he throws two TDs, and they score 28 more points. So, that foot is on the gas, and I can’t wait to see what they bring the table.”
Davis thinks Indiana has its destiny in its own hands as far as the College Football Playoff is concerned. The first CFP rankings will be announced on Nov. 5.
“First? They can win the Big 10, which is a tall order, for sure. I understand that. But even if they don’t, let’s say for instance they lose to Ohio State,” Davis surmised. “They don’t make the Big 10 championship game, but they play competitively. I think there’s a really good chance they would be in that top 11 (the best non-Power Four conference champion gets an automatic bid), probably, depending on where the other (non-Power Four) conference champion would be ranked.”
Indiana’s poor strength of schedule – something Davis defended while he also pointed out the reality that it will hurt Indiana in comparison to other playoff contenders – will play a role in the Hoosiers’ fate.
“There will still be football judgment, their schedule outside of these games coming up in November, will be scrutinized, and that’s appropriate. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Davis said. “So a lot of it is going to be how they play. If they play competitively, I think they’ve got a shot, and the best thing about the new system, they can just win, and then they don’t have to worry about it.”
Specific to Saturday, Coughlin had a cautionary tale for Indiana fans. When they visited Cignetti at James Madison in 2023, there was similar hype around the JMU campus. Nearly all of the attention was honed in on JMU. Their opponent, Appalachian State, was treated as an afterthought.
“Not once in that show of three hours did we mention App State, and App State won (26-23) and cost JMU an undefeated season,” Coughlin said. “So knowing that coach Cig was there for that, I’m sure he’s learned from that.”
Indiana basketball practice observations from June 25: Freshmen mixing in
IU has a game-changer, Thursday’s practice open to the media showed. IndyStar IU insider Zach Osterman explains what he saw.
BLOOMINGTON — Whatever he can.
That’s the answer. The question — one prompted by an urgency to add strength to his game — is what Vaughn Karvala, Indiana basketball’s athletic freshman wing, is doing to add weight. IU’s highest-ranked signee in the 2026 class, it’s not hard to envision a role for Karvala in Darian DeVries’ second season in Bloomington. The player himself knows that starts with meeting the physical demands of the college game.
Which starts with building onto to his 6-foot-7, 190-pound frame.
“The biggest thing for me is just putting on weight,” Karvala told reporters after practice Thursday. “That’s my biggest thing, getting stronger, trying to play with these guys that are three, four years older than me. I have to get stronger, I have to get faster, everything.”
A three-year letter winner at Oregon (Wisconsin) High School, Karvala spent his senior season at Bella Vista Prep in Arizona, bolstering a profile that saw him ranked No. 62 nationally per the 247Sports Composite.
Karvala averaged 26.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in his final season with Oregon, shooting close to 42% from behind the 3-point line. He averaged another 14.7 points per game with Team Herro on the EYBL circuit.
He handed DeVries a major recruiting win last fall, when Karvala picked the Hoosiers over Xavier and Cal. Now, both at the rim and behind the arc, Karvala looks like a player who can contribute meaningfully in his first year in college.
“I know my athleticism catches the eye, but I can still shoot it,” Karvala said. “But another thing is just working on rebounding, trying to get extra possessions for us.”
Whether on the glass or elsewhere, embracing the physical challenge of college basketball has been an emphasis for Karvala since he arrived in Bloomington earlier this summer.
That manifests itself offensively, when he tries to push the ball downhill and leverage that athleticism to attack the rim. It shows up defensively, where Karvala said he’s comfortable guarding the two, the three and, matchup depending, the four.
It even plays out on the glass, battling bigs up to including 7-2 teammate Samet Yigitoglu, who Karvala described with a smile as “the biggest guy I’ve ever seen.”
“Physicality, 100%,” Karvala said, when asked where he’s challenging himself. “Just playing with all these guys that have 20, 30, 40 pounds on me.”
Which starts with the physical demand of more weight. Karvala said he’ll eat chicken, steak or “whatever we have in the locker room” that can help him in that effort. His focus, he said, is simply to “eat a lot, and work out every day.”
As that weight and strength begin to build, Karvala knows the next step — to mentally prepare for the rough-and-tumble nature of life on the floor in the Big Ten — is just as important. Preparing his body comes first. Challenging himself to toughen up once it’s required follows quickly after.
“Just getting fully there, mentally,” he said. “You’re going to have to push your body to get through this.”
Want more Hoosiers coverage? Sign up for IndyStar’s Hoosiers newsletter. Listen to Mind Your Banners, our IU Athletics-centric podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the latest on IndyStar TV: Hoosiers.
KOSCIUSKO COUNTY, Ind. (WSBT) — It’s fair season and a new law uncorks adult beverage sales!
The new Indiana law will go into effect July 1st, making it legal to sell alcohol at county fairs.
The Kosciusko County Fair is set to kick off in just a few weeks and Indiana is officially allowing alcohol to be sold.
The law is bringing back something that’s not necessarily new to this fair.
Here’s what you need to know
The new law will go into effect on July 1st. It officially allows county fairs to apply for fee-free permits to sell alcohol.
Officials with the Kosciusko County Fair say they are participating this year. They are implementing the same guidelines they used when they sold alcohol just at grandstand events.
The difference now is, you can walk around the grounds with your drink. But strict guidelines will be in place for purchasing a drink.
“Actually, we’ve never had any issues. Because we card everybody, so we take that seriously. We also got the ID guides so we can identify the different types of IDs,” said Sheal Dirck, Treasurer of Kosciusko County Fair.
The Kosciusko County Fair already have guidelines in place, so this was an easy transition for the fair.
They will be the only vendors selling alcohol, which will make it easier to control distribution.
The sales will also bring in more revenue.
“Hopefully it allows to keep our ticket prices where they are because right now, insurance, utilities and everything else is going sky high and it’s hard to make ends meet,” said Dirck.
However, some fairs cannot participate because of the July 1st start date, like the Pulaski County Fair, which is going on right now. Pulaski County officials said it is on the agenda for next year. Whereas other fairs are choosing to sit this year out.
“We wanted not spend some time to, to see what that really means for us. It was not a decision we wanted to rush into. But we are happy for the option of it,” said Shelly Steury, GM of Elkhart County 4H Fairgrounds.
Leaders at the St. Joseph County and Elkhart County Fairs said neither of them are selling alcohol.
The Kosciusko County Fair is the only fair that will sell alcohol in our area this year.
-
Los Angeles, Ca38 minutes agoWatch Project Angel Food's 'Lead with Love' telethon on KTLA
-
Detroit, MI58 minutes agoMetro Detroit weather forecast, June 26, 2026 — 4 p.m. Update
-
San Francisco, CA1 hour agoNewlyweds celebrate Pride-themed weddings inside SF City Hall as parade preparations underway
-
Dallas, TX1 hour agoAll Dallas restaurants firing up specials for July 4th and America’s 250th
-
Miami, FL1 hour agoHelping Venezuela: State Department deploys Miami-Dade search-and-rescue team
-
Boston, MA1 hour agoPhotos: Norway takes on France in high-powered World Cup matchup in Foxborough – The Boston Globe
-
Denver, CO1 hour agoDenver Transplant Games sets Guinness World Record for mos living donors, recipients in one place at one time
-
Seattle, WA2 hours agoHow to watch Egypt vs. Iran World Cup match in Seattle
