SIU’s status as a big-time basketball school hit a plateau after its second trip to the Sweet 16 in five years.

Now, it’s time for the next big step.

The Salukis may be reaping the benefits of their prolific basketball teams over the past six years by making an appearance on ESPN’s Gameday this upcoming season.

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Director of Media Services Tom Weber said an ESPN crew would be visiting the SIU campus late summer to survey the school and the arena and see if Gameday would be a possibility for a regular season game.

Athletic Director Mario Moccia said while the nuts and bolts of the process are still yet to be determined, the game would most likely be on a weekend against a conference opponent.

“Instead of just having a two hour game shot live on ESPN, SIU would be getting 24 hours of national exposure leading up to the game and the game itself,” Weber said.

College Game Day is an ESPN show that travels to various colleges and spends one day leading up to the basketball game, to focus on campus life, interviews of coaches and game previews.

Rece Davis hosts the show and the other analysts include Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis and Digger Phelps. Last year, College Gameday shot live at the Ohio State University campus for the game between Ohio State and Michigan State. The show also featured the Univertsity of Kansas, University of Kentucky and Boston College, according to ESPN.com.

Weber said the prospect of having SIU and Carbondale in general on a national TV station would be a great way to boost enrollment and display the university.

“It would be a great tool to market the university,” he said. “You can’t put a price on how much it would cost to market the university to that many people.”

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Moccia said it is rare for a Missouri Valley Conference school to be chosen to host Gameday. It is generally something reserved for Bowl Championship Series schools such as Kansas or North Carolina.

“Maybe SIU is being considered because we have a higher profile and status in the mid-major world,” Moccia said. “We are now an elite mid-major school and people see us in the same light as a Gonzaga University.”

Moccia said having the top analysts from ESPN shooting live from SIU would benefit not only SIU, but the Carbondale community as well.

Senior forward Randal Falker said having ESPN Gameday at SIU would bring the University some much-needed attention.

“The best PR and advertising is free advertising,” Falker said. “Now people see our school from everywhere.”

Eugene Clark can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 269 or [email protected]