BYU football: 'College GameDay' to visit Provo

PROVO — As far as Mountain West Conference games in October go, it doesn't get much bigger than this.

When No. 16 BYU and No. 10 TCU collide Saturday (5:30 p.m., Versus) at LaVell Edwards Stadium, it will be a showdown between two nationally ranked MWC championship contenders. The undefeated Horned Frogs, who have won eight straight games dating back to last season, are chasing a Bowl Championship Series berth.

It's so big that ESPN's popular "College GameDay" will be here to air its Saturday morning highlights and analysis show, even though the game won't be televised by ESPN.

"It's a tremendous opportunity for BYU to host ESPN College GameDay on our campus," said BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe. "The TCU game is sold out and the ESPN shows should add to the great college atmosphere we expect this Saturday."

College GameDay will begin broadcasting Saturday at 8 a.m. Host Chris Fowler will be joined by analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard for the live broadcast.

Of course, the Cougars remember that TCU handed them a bitter 32-7 loss last October in Fort Worth, dashing BYU's own BCS hopes and snapping its 16-game winning streak.

"It's a big game, and we have a bad taste in our mouth from last year," said BYU tight end Dennis Pitta. "Fortunately, we get to be at home with our fans."

"It's homecoming, it's TCU, it's at home. It's a very talented team," said BYU running back Harvey Unga.

"It's one of those games you kind of wait for the season for. We look forward to having them at home just to test us and see where we're at against those guys. It'll be fun."

BYU (6-1, 3-0), which defeated San Diego State, 38-28, last weekend, climbed from No. 18 to No. 16 in The Associated Press poll, while TCU, which clobbered Colorado State, 44-6, moved up from No. 12 to No. 10.

The Bowl Championship Series standings debuted Sunday, with TCU checking in at No. 8 and BYU coming in at No. 16.

In the coaches' poll, which figures in the BCS standings, TCU is No. 7 and BYU is No. 16.

"TCU is a very good football team. They have a very good defense and they have a good quarterback (Andy Dalton) who can run," said BYU quarterback Max Hall. "There's going to be a lot of things we're going to have to look at on film to prepare for these guys.

"I think we can win, but we've got to play sound, we can't turn the ball over and we've got to manage the game right. Luckily for us, we have them at home. We're just going to prepare like crazy and see if we can win."

"They're going to be well-prepared and come in and play hard. We're going to do so as well," said safety Andrew Rich.