Get ready Jackson, the circus is coming to town.
ESPN's College GameDay will come to Jackson on Oct. 29 in anticipation of No. 9 Jackson State's game with Southern, the network announced Sunday morning. Jackson State heads into the game 7-0 and 4-0 in SWAC play, while Southern is 5-2 and 3-1 in the SWAC.
Of course, the visit will be about more than just the game. It's about the spectacle that is Coach Prime and the ascendance of HBCU football since his 2020 hiring.
By swerving the tour bus to Jackson, ESPN is also deploying a bit of clever marketing. The Week 9 FBS schedule offers three AP Top 25 matchups -- No. 2 Ohio State at No. 13 Penn State at noon, No. 9 Oklahoma State at No. 22 Kansas State at 3:30 ET, and No. 19 Kentucky at No. 3 Tennessee at 7. But the first two are on Fox, and GameDay has been to Knoxville twice already this season.
JACKSON STATE, WE’RE COMING TO YOUR CITY‼️
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 23, 2022
The epic HBCU rivalry matchup between @GeauxJags and @GoJSUTigersFB is up next! pic.twitter.com/MuT86mfg6Q
Saturday will mark GameDay's first visit to Jackson and just the program's second stop at an HBCU campus. The first, and thus far only, visit came back on Nov. 15, 2008, when Florida A&M hosted Hampton.
On a show that majors in spectacle, Saturday morning in Jackson has the potential to be one of the wildest scenes in GameDay history.