Mississippi State University has been chosen to host ESPN’s College Football Countdown to Kickoff show for the season opener against Louisiana State University Aug. 30. The show will be the first nationally televised football game of the season.
ESPN plans to set up a broadcasting station in The Junction, which will be used as a home base for a live nation wide telecast.
Beginning at 5 p.m., a pep rally in The Junction will keep fans entertained until the hour-long broadcast starts at 6:15 p.m.
A committee was formed in order to coordinate the pep rally.
The committee includes members of MSU’s athletic department, band, cheerleading squad, pom squad and Student Association.
SA President Jeremy Johnson said the committee hopes the pep rally portrays MSU as a great environment to the rest of the nation.
“I’ve solicited the help of a lot of student organizations and the committee has really put this thing together smoothly,” he said. “We want to provide a lot of school spirit. We want everyone watching at home to see a lot of maroon and white.”
Mike Nemeth, associate athletic director of media relations, said this show is a great deal for MSU.
“It will give the athletic department and football team a lot of exposure,” he said. “This is a tremendous benefit for the university as a whole.”
The Countdown to Kickoff program will include two additional football games at Louisville and Florida State University in which ESPN analysts forecast the upcoming college football season.
Bobby Tomlinson, associate athletic director of facilities and event management, said ESPN analysts will talk about football games happening throughout the weekend as well as MSU’s opener against LSU.
“Right now, the plan is to have an interview with [head coach Sylvester] Croom and then talk about our game for 10 or 15 minutes,” Tomlinson said. “ESPN will be putting up their set on the west side of the M Club facing The Junction. The pep rally will be in the background during the broadcast.”
Sideline reporter Erin Andrews will report from The Junction during the broadcast.
ESPN College Football studio producer Mike Deisenhoff said Andrews will interview Croom at some point during the show.
Deisenhoff also said ESPN hopes to televise Croom’s address to the pep rally crowd.
“We are thrilled to make MSU part of the show,” he said. “We know that MSU is one of the best football atmospheres in the SEC and we want everybody in the country to see it.