ESPN's wildly popular show "College Football Gameday" has been adapted for college basketball and will debut Saturday at Gampel Pavilion as ESPN highlights the evening's UConn -vs- Pittsburgh match-up.

College Basketball Gameday, a traveling road show, will be filmed live on location from ESPN’s Saturday evening "Primetime Game of The Week" venue. Gameday will consist of three live one hour shows with the featured primetime game of the week and its venue serving as the backdrop.

Hosts Rece Davis and Chris Fowler will be joined by college basketball analysts Jay Bilas and Digger Phelps with appearances by Dick Vitale and ESPN senior writer Andy Katz. Vitale, Brad Nessler and reporter Aaron Andrews will call the game action.

"College basketball deserves this," said Bilas. "I think college basketball is the best game there is. As great as (college) football is, and as big of a football fan as I am, at the end of the year all the games don’t count. In basketball the games count, building toward the end of the year when we crown a true champion and we’re going to be at all the best sites...we get to showcase the passion that surrounds the sport."

"The building toward a championship is what I want to emphasize," continued Bilas. "The idea that while we can all spout off our opinions and talk about who’s best, who’s better, ultimately we have a game where the champion is crowned on the court and the game builds toward the championship game and the final four and we’ll take you right up to it."

The format will consist of three live one hour College Basketball Gameday shows. The first, at 11:00 am, will highlight and breakdown all the day’s games. The second segment, at 8:00 pm, will be the lead-in to the 9:00 pm "Primetime game of the week," and the third segment, at midnight, will review all of the days college basketball action.

"If you’re a basketball junkie you’re not going to have any better day in college basketball than what we’re bringing to you with Gameday on ESPN," said Digger Phelps, who liked the idea of debuting the show in Storrs, Connecticut.

"I think the country needs to know that when you take a look at the state of Connecticut there’s no professional sports teams here and (UConn) basketball is the religion," said Phelps. "The men’s program and the women’s program. Between Geno (Auriemma) and Jim (Calhoun) there’s no better venue..."

"Probably one of the best rivalries in the last couple of years has been the Pitt - UConn series, especially the Big East Championship series," continued Phelps. "Now we’re bringing game one to the country with us being there. I just think this adds to the whole color of what college basketball brings to the table as you build up for (the national championship)."

UConn students, as well as the general public, even those without tickets to the game, are encouraged to be at Gampel Pavilion Saturday to take part in the free 11:00 am one hour live College Gameday segment. Participants are encouraged to show their school spirit by wearing blue and white and bringing their most creative signs and UConn flags to the event.

Students will be admitted to Gampel Pavilion beginning at 9:30 am, through the North and East entrances only. Students with tickets waiting in line for the game will be given a numbered wristband to hold their place while they participate in the hour long Gameday show. Students who obtain wristbands and participate in the 11:00 am show will be allowed to return to their place in line as late as 6:30 pm.

The general public will be admitted to Gampel Pavilion to participate in the live College Basketball Gameday segment beginning at 10:00 am through the East and South entrances only.

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