Setting the Scene: Louisville hosts Miami, welcomes College GameDay to town

The COVID pandemic has thrown a wrench into just about everything, but if there's a silver lining, it's what is on tap for this weekend.

Louisville welcomes back the College GameDay crew, and gets a top-20 matchup in a primetime slot on Saturday night.

Let's set the scene for you:

For the first time since October of 2017, Louisville is ranked in both the AP and Coaches polls.

Louisville checks in at No. 16 in the Coaches poll, and No. 18 in the AP poll.

Louisville's opponent, Miami, is also in the top 20 of both polls. The Hurricanes are at No. 18 in the Coaches poll, and No. 17 in the AP.

This will be the first time since the 2017 season that Cardinal Stadium will play host to a matchup between top-20 teams.

The last top-20 game was in 2017 when No. 3 Clemson played No. 14 Louisville.

Even though the polls are slightly altered with a handful of teams absent, this is a huge step forward in a short period of time for Scott Satterfield's program.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – ESPN College GameDay Built by The Home Depot – college football's longest-running and most-celebrated pregame show – is making its third stop in The Derby City on Saturday in advance of the Atlantic Coast Conference opener versus Miami at Cardinal Stadium. Kickoff between the Cardinals and Hurricanes has been shifted to 7:30 p.m. and will air on ABC.

College Game Day will air on ESPN and is set to start at 9 a.m. on Sept. 19 live from Cardinal Stadium. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, fans will not be permitted to attend the show and tailgating or parking in any lots.

The iconic show first came to Louisville in 2016 when the Cardinals defeated No. 2 Florida State 63-20, and made a return visit in 2017 in a loss to Clemson.

The weekly show is hosted by Rece Davis, who is joined by analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Maria Taylor and David Pollack.

Chris Fowler, Herbstreit, and Taylor will stay on site to call the game between Louisville and Miami. Both programs opened the season with wins. The Cardinals defeated Western Kentucky on Saturday, while the Hurricanes beat UAB 31-14 on Thursday night.

I know there's not a slew of games on the docket for this weekend, but regardless, Louisville is hosting college football's best and most popular analysts for a big ACC matchup.

That in itself is all that matters. The publicity, the spotlight on the program, and everything in between is massive for a variety of reasons, a key one being recruiting.

Louisville will host a fan event tomorrow, Thursday:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With ESPN College GameDay coming to Louisville for Saturday's football contest against Miami, UofL Athletics is hosting a fan event on Thursday evening at Cardinal Stadium.

The event will run from 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at Gate 2B of Cardinal Stadium.

Fans are invited to drop off signs to potentially appear on College GameDay Saturday morning. Signs must be approved by UofL and ESPN College GameDay staff before being eligible to appear during the show.

The College GameDay bus will be present at the event from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. and fans will be provided the opportunity to take their photo next to the bus.

Cardinal Authentic will also have a pop-up shop on site with gear for sale, including the adidas Cardinals Ultraboost 1.0 DNA shoes.

ESPN's weekly show is returning to Louisville for a third time. College GameDay first came to Louisville in 2016 when the Cardinals defeated No. 2 Florida State 63-20, and made a return visit in 2017 in a loss to Clemson.

Kickoff between the Cardinals and Hurricanes is set for 7:30 p.m. on ABC.

With fans prohibited from attending the set on Saturday, this is a cool opportunity for those wanting to get a taste of GameDay.