Weather and crowd a big part of University of Minnesota's first 'GameDay' visit

ESPN's "College GameDay" has been visiting campuses for more than a quarter-century, but Saturday was the first time the show had ever been to the University of Minnesota.

It was nice of Mother Nature to pretty much write the script for how the show would play out visually.

The three-hour broadcast from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday illustrated the elements — as expected, and as it should — after a fresh round of late November snow descended upon Northrop Mall.

Fans rowed a boat in the snow early in the show, before there was a cut to a snow-covered TCF Bank Stadium.

Soon, we were back on Northrop Mall looking at shirtless guys (one of whom had an axe shaved into his chest hair) — and my two young daughters were cackling and yelling at the TV for them to put their shirts back on. And then we saw a snowman with a large thermometer hung from it.

The on-camera talent was bundled up — though host Rece Davis eschewed gloves. If they were uncomfortable, they tried not to show it or talk about it. Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso commended the fans for their "bring it on" mentality when it came to the weather.

Those fans brought signs. So many signs. Among the ones that were most visible in the background of the set: "Badgers are just fat skunks," "Badgers eat yellow snow," "GameDay is now Elite," "If you don't row you better axe somebody" and the deadpan "Never been this good, don't know what to write."

Fans chanted "Row the Boat" and — strangely — "who hates Iowa/we hate Iowa." At least that's something about which Minnesota and Wisconsin could agree.

Of course, "GameDay" is about more than the live shots. Tons of features were worked into the Rivalry Week edition of the show, including a long one on Gophers coach P.J. Fleck and how he has built up the program here.

Fleck later appeared live on the show talking about the Gophers more — and explaining once again the meaning of "Row the Boat." He was joined by Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders — a Minnesota alum, Gophers fan and good friend of Fleck.

Fleck said in the lead-up to Saturday: "I'd like to be able to have the largest crowd 'GameDay' has ever seen somehow, some way." That sort of thing is hard to quantify, but the throng on TV looked quite impressive and was often lauded by the crew.

The show worked in an obligatory shot of Mall of America and also a slightly more subtle Minnesota touch by coming back from break early in the 9 a.m. hour playing "Juice" by red-hot artist Lizzo.

And former Gophers wide receiver Eric Decker joined as the celebrity guest picker, bursting out of a building on campus to a hero's welcome. Decker's Gophers never beat the Badgers, but his optimistic energy seemed to match that of the crowd.

"Minnesota is taking this thing home!" Decker declared after picking the Gophers to win — cheers surpassed only when Corso donned the Goldy Gopher head after also saying Minnesota would win.