ESPN’s ‘College Gameday’ travels to Bozeman for the Brawl of the Wild, and the return of Lee Corso

Legendary college football coach and analyst Lee Corso returned to ESPN’s College Gameday on Saturday, and he picked the coldest setting in Gameday history for his return.

Bozeman, Montana.

Gameday is in Bozeman for the 121st “Brawl of the Wild,” the annual battle between in-state rivals Montana, and Montana State. Montana State, the host team, is 9-1 on the season, and tied with Sacramento State atop the Big Sky standings with a 7-0 conference record. The Grizzlies might be sixth in the Big Sky, with a 4-3 record in the conference (7-3 overall) but they would love nothing more than to wreck their rival’s conference title chances.

Montana leads the all-time series, with a 73-41-5 record in the Brawl of the Wild.

The hosts rolled out the, well, white carpet for the College Gameday bus when it arrived on campus this week:

And as host Rece Davis noted, fans were planning on camping out overnight — in subzero temperatures — to be a part of the show Saturday morning:

The show opened Saturday morning with absolutely breathtaking scenes from Bozeman, even as the sun was yet to rise in the sky:

But in addition to the huge rivalry game, today’s Gameday has an extra something special. The return of Corso, who has missed the last three weeks as he deals with an undisclosed health issue. But he was on set early Saturday morning, getting the crowd fired up as he always does, helmets in hand:

His return was also part of the show’s opening:

Admit it, it just got a little dusty …

Of course, the signs from the crown are a huge part of the Gameday experience, and the fans in Bozeman are off to a roaring start:

The Brawl of the Wild kicks off at noon local time, 2:00 p.m. ET, and will be streamed on ESPN+.