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To say Rece Davis has been around sports would be a major understatement. 

Davis has been a top personality at ESPN for over three decades, which means his job has taken him to some of the country's top venues. During the fall, you'll usually see him parked out in front of historic college football stadiums like Bryant-Denny Stadium in Alabama or Ohio Stadium in Columbus for a morning taping of College GameDay, ESPN's iconic college football pregame show. 

Davis is always quick to tell people how much he loves his job and the places it's taken him, but Saturday's episode of College GameDay will allow Davis to cross off a new football stadium on his list – Kinnick Stadium. 

That's right. Though Davis has hosted GameDay since 2015 and has called basketball games inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Saturday's showdown between No. 14 Iowa and No. 5 Ohio State will be the first time Davis will get to take in a game at Kinnick Stadium, and it's safe to say he's pretty excited about it. 

"I can't wait to be here [for the show and game tomorrow]," Davis said at media availability on Friday morning. 

There's no question Hawkeye fans and the GameDay crew are thrilled to be back in Iowa City, but the second question that comes out of GameDay's arrival is this: what took the program so long to come back to Eastern Iowa? 

This is GameDay's first trip to Iowa City in 20 years, when Iowa coincidentally hosted Ohio State. The Hawkeyes have boasted many top-15 teams during that two-decade stretch, but Davis said the storyline just wasn't there. 

It became very likely the stars would align for GameDay's return even before Iowa took the field against Michigan last weekend, but it became a lock when the Hawkeyes stunned the Wolverines with a game-winning touchdown as time expired. 

Having Ohio State, one of the top brands in the sport and a national title favorite this year, in town for this game was probably appealing to ESPN, but this is a major game for both sides. The Buckeyes (3-1) can't afford another early-season loss after falling to Texas on Sept. 12, while the Hawkeyes (4-0) look to launch themselves into College Football Playoff contention with a victory. 

"I think when you have confluence of circumstances like that in a place you haven't been, a place that loves football, a place that has great tradition as Iowa does, it made it the perfect contest to come. Everything sort of fit together nicely," Davis said. 

Though the crew is excited about the actual football game, there's another sentimental reason that makes their visit to Iowa City extra-special – The Hawkeye Wave. Iowa fans know the iconic tradition very well (it's in its 10th season), but the GameDay cast has never seen it in person before. 

"We shouldn't have to wait for something bad to happen or for someone to be enduring a life-altering struggle to put things in perspective," Davis said. "But it does, it certainly does when you realize what people are going through there, and to be able to experience that entire stadium turning around and waving to those kids. I think that's that's going to be really really cool moment." 

Steve "Stanford Steve" Coughlin, the program's betting analyst, couldn't help but get emotional when he was asked about The Wave. The cast was will visit some of the young patients Stead Family Children's Hospital later on Friday, and the visit will hit home to Coughlin, who has three young daughters at home. 

"We want to help, and hopefully we do help and give them something that they haven't been able to experience. So yeah, I'm really, really looking forward to it," Coughlin said. 

That was far and away the most emotional question Coughlin was asked about during his 10-minute media session, as most of his breakout period was previewing this matchup. He's impressed with everything Iowa has done so far this season, with emphasis on the culture head coach Kirk Ferentz has built and the play of tight end DJ Vonnahme, who he really admires because he's a former collegiate tight end himself. 

But most importantly, Coughlin broke down how the Hawkeyes can pull off the monumental upset. Iowa is a two-touchdown underdog in this one, but Coughlin says the Hawkeyes will have a chance if they can keep the Buckeyes' explosive offense off the field and sustain long scoring drives. 

Coughlin thinks the traditional smashmouth, turnover-free style will work to a certain degree, but Iowa would benefit from throwing in some trickery as well to keep OSU on its toes – such as throwing on run-first downs. 

"It's been a damn good recipe for for how long. So keep doing that, and I think they'll be all right," Coughlin said. 

College GameDay's highly-anticipated broadcast from Iowa City will begin at 8:00 a.m. CT at the Pentacrest on the University of Iowa campus. The buzz in the area has already began with a crowd of students watching Friday's live broadcast of The Pat McAfee Show, but it's likely going to be cranked up a notch by the sun rises on Saturday morning. 

Ferentz will be featured live on the GameDay set, along with other Hawkeye-related features and plenty of game analysis. That's the part everyone has known for a few days, but what no one knows right now is who ESPN will pick to be the celebrity guest picker. 

Iowa fans have thrown a lot of potential names around, but Davis wouldn't tell the media who the guest picker would be just yet, and it appears ESPN is still exploring some options. 

"There are some extenuating circumstances, things going on, but we will have a wonderful guest picker in keeping with the tradition of this season," Davis said. "We've got some contingency situations, so we're we're figuring all of that out." 

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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at bradschultz@roundtable.io

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