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The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

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President’s Circle Explodes with Gameday Festivities

Fans were told they could start camping out at 6 p.m. on Friday night for ESPN’s College Gameday, but some felt that start time was not early enough. Similar to when fans camped out for the Arizona basketball game last season, these fans have also dubbed a name for the camp grounds within Presidents Circle: Camp Corso.

Students at the U started camping out a full day in advance to guarantee they would get the best spots in the pit. Thursday night, Nick Eixenberger and a few of his friends were the first ones to claim not only their camp ground, but essentially their front row view. They thought it was a great idea to be the first in line, but it did come with a downside — the actual camping.

“It was freezing,” Eixenberger said.

However, dealing with the cold was worth it. Thursday night there were only about four tents up, but word soon started to travel. Friday morning there were more than 20 tents.

Brennan Degen and Rahz Miller set up their station on Friday morning when word got to them. Miller was planning to start camping that evening, but his plans quickly changed when he woke up. He didn’t even mind that he had a test — he just wanted to make sure he had a good place in line.

“I went to bed at like 3 [a.m.] last night, and I got a call this morning at 8 [a.m.] waking me up,” Miller said. “Alright, time to get up, get rolling. Come here, set up my tent. Took a midterm, came back. Doing school and chilling here.”

Degen is also balancing school work while camping out, and he thought if he was going to do so, he may as well start as early as possible.

“If you’re going to be in the pit, you might as well be front row,” Degen said. “Why not? We have nothing else to do.”

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All students are excited for events to unfold. Eixenberger thinks of this as a once-in-a-decade opportunity. He participated in Gameday the last time it was at Utah, but since he was not a student then, this experience is something new to him. When he walks around campus, he feels the energy and excitement from all his peers.

“Absolutely pumped,” Eixenberger said. “Gameday is one of the biggest things that could hype up a university. It’s electric, and it brings a lot of recognition to the program as well.”

ESPN’s Rece Davis believes no two campuses are alike, and at the U there is a bit more enthusiasm amongst the fans, considering Utah does not always get a lot of national attention.

Although this is Davis’ first year on the show, he did basketball for about 10 years, so he has a feel for how the students react to these types of events.

“Everybody does a great job hosting us, but there’s a little extra adrenaline amongst the fans and the vibe you can feel in the community when you come to a place where you haven’t been in there in a long time,” Davis said.

Davis does not necessarily think Utah has anything to prove to the country but that it’s more of a test to see where the team stands in the Pac-12 South. Davis does not think the Utes will be able to trounce Cal like they did Oregon, but Degen thinks otherwise.

Come Saturday night, all three campers are positive Utah will win by more than 14 points. They do not think Cal will overpower the Utes, and Degen is positive the Utes can reproduce the same type of performance as they did in Eugene.

“The atmosphere in general is pretty awesome,” Degen said. “Just everyone loves Utah and is going for Utah. We’re going to beat them by at least two touchdowns. I’m confident. If we can beat Oregon that badly at their house, we can beat Cal in our house.”

Saturday morning, Eixenberger will be anxiously awaiting the College Gameday hosts to make their picks.

“I’m excited for [Lee] Corso putting on the University of Utah mascot, picking us for the win,” Eixenberger said.

[email protected]

@kbrenneisen

 

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