Here's what goes into hosting College GameDay for the first time ever:

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Last Saturday, Appalachian State hosted College GameDay for the first time ever, knocking off Troy at the last possible second. We'll have more on the actual game a little later this week.

Hosting College GameDay is a big deal, and not just for all the exposure that it brings. It's a big event, with a huge crew and all sorts of logistical questions.

To better understand how App State pulled it off, I deputized former Appalachian State beat writer Ethan Joyce to call around. His freelance story can be found below.

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From his fourth-floor office last week, Doug Gillin could look out toward the football field that became the center of the college football universe. But that would’ve required a free moment he didn’t have, as the Appalachian State athletics director found himself in the thick of an endurance race.

“I think maybe I probably need to start doing more of that,” Gillin said last Wednesday, when asked about moments to enjoy the excitement around his football program.

Two Saturdays ago, App State rocked a then top-10 Texas A&M as part of a victory parade for the Sun Belt. Seven days later, College GameDay landed in the center of the Boone, N.C. campus for the Mountaineers’ matchup against Troy. It’s the College Gameday debut for App State, and only the fourth time in history that the show has visited a North Carolina university.

For a whole week, App State had a national spotlight. And Gillin’s department tried its damndest to capitalize.

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