From the show's lively opening with Big & Rich and Cowboy Troy singing a customized version of Comin' To Your City to the traditional close that has Lee Corso bedecked in school mascot attire, making his fearless prediction on the featured game, each week's edition provides fast-paced football entertainment and superb gridiron analysis. 

This is GameDay's 20th season on ESPN. Every week the show visits campuses across the country to highlight the premier college football matchups and capture firsthand the pageantry, traditions and enduring enthusiasm of the college game. These visits occasionally draw more than 15,000 passionate and partisan fans, many of whom line up in the wee hours of the morning with homemade signs, school flags and painted faces. 

Last year, GameDay posted its highest audiences ever, a household increase of 18 percent over 2004. The ratings success spurred ESPN to extend the show by 30 minutes this season, and it now airs for two hours on Saturday mornings. 

The early GameDay shows featured Tim Brando, Larry Burnett and Beano Cook, with Lee Corso occasionally offering additional insight. 

Brando, now in his ninth year as host of College Football Today on CBS, spoke with Boardroom Sports by phone this week. 

"It was my first big assignment in the business," said Brando. "ESPN was a small but burgeoning shop just beginning to take off. ESPN head Steve Bornstein (now NFL Network president and CEO) got this vision of what he wanted it to be, and he made it happen." 

In 1989, Bob Carpenter replaced Brando, who left to call CFA football on ESPN. Today, only Corso remains in the GameDay mix, typically joined by host Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit. 

This talented trio's insightful analyses and good-natured banter routinely deliver solid gold entertainment. Corso often disagrees with his colleagues on the outcome of the day's highlighted games, which creates a mock-serious confrontation, especially when he turns to Herbstreit and trots out his signature phrase, "Not so fast, my friend!" 

Recent GameDay broadcasts, with their theatrical flair and on-site interactivity, evolved from the early Game- Day productions, which were an hourlong combination of studio and some on-site analysis. 

"Being with Beano was quite an experience," recalled Brando. "He's a crown jewel of college football history and an absolute quote monster." 

The early GameDay productions featured many innovations that would later be incorporated into today's shows. 

"We got to do things that hadn't been done," Brando said. "We took a lot of chances, knowing that since we were on cable and only a relatively small segment of the population was wired, we were going to be all right. I really feel we kind of gave them a blueprint for what they're doing today." 

In 1993, the show started incorporating "live" broadcasts from on-site locations. The first road show was on Nov. 13, 1993, for No. 1 Florida State at No. 2 Notre Dame. (ND won a 31-24 thriller.) 

The Home Depot connection illustrates the power and potential of sports marketing. The company originally signed on as presenting sponsor in 2003. The move was an immediate marketing coup, as the integration of the brand into the broadcast allowed the world's largest home improvement retailer to score with an attractive and passionate demographic target. 

Home Depot recently announced it renewed its agreement to be the presenting sponsor of GameDay for three more years. 

This agreement maintains Home Depot branding on the main desk of the set, commercial spots and a series of sponsored features during programming. It also provides Home Depot with an attractive multimedia marketing platform, as the agreement extends to other -ESPN properties, including -ESPN.com, ESPN Radio and ESPN The Magazine. 

The Bonham Line: As Big and Rich sing, "If you want a little zing in your zang-zang," tune into ESPN College GameDay built by The Home Depot. Then get ready for a great day of home improvement and exciting college football.