BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — College GameDay, ESPN’s popular college football show, is coming to Bloomington for the second time in the 37-year history of the program.

The live show will originate from Indiana University’s campus leading up to the sold-out clash with the University of Washington Huskies at Memorial Stadium.

Phil Powell, director of the Indiana Business Research Center, said with the Big Ten expanding to the West Coast, having College GameDay in Bloomington will give IU hours of free national exposure.

“Having GameDay in Bloomington is unprecedented,” Powell said. “It’s going to bring a lot of visitors and they are going to spend a lot of money, and the hospitality industry in Bloomington is really going to enjoy that.”

IU’s appearance on the show comes in the first season of the expanded Big Ten. The conference now spans from coast to coast.

“It’s not just the game, it’s the pregame show, it’s the postgame show, it’s all the buzz during the week,” Powell said. “This is a force multiplier in terms of our marketing value of the Hoosier football team.”

The exposure on College GameDay will help IU attract students from all over the United States, which is important since the pool of college applicants is shrinking.

“We have fewer high school graduates simply because we didn’t have enough babies 18 years ago,” Powell said. “It’s all demographics. We’re not having as many kids in the United States, and that’s starting to catch up with us.”

Undefeated and ranked 13th in the country, IU is off to its best start since 1967. Without that success, College GameDay would not be broadcasting from Bloomington Saturday. Powell said the success is a testament to first-year head coach Curt Cignetti:

“Coaches are an incredible part of your college brand,” Powell said. “The University of Alabama with Coach (Nick) Saban, during his tenure, they lifted the number of applications that came in.”

Fans are invited to bring signs and attend the live broadcast, which begins at 9 a.m. Saturday next to Memorial Stadium.