Lawrence and Allen Fieldhouse were in the national limelight this morning as ESPN started two days of broadcasts at Kansas University.

About 150 KU students – in addition to the basketball band and cheerleaders – woke up early this morning to watch live portions of the broadcast of “Cold Pizza.”

KUSports.com

The national show did several cut-ins to Allen Fieldhouse for interviews with head men’s basketball coach Bill Self, senior Wayne Simien and longtime broadcaster Max Falkenstien. The Lawrence section of the show was hosted by Cane Peterson, with commentary by Lenn Robbins of the New York Post.

Several times, students chanted “Change your shirt!” to Peterson, who was wearing orange — the color of the Jayhawks’ Saturday opponent, Texas.

The show aired live from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., with a rebroadcast from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on ESPN2.

“I think it’s really impressive,” senior Shannon Sanderson said of the early-morning turnout. “This is what it means to be a Jayhawk and what it means to have KU spirit.”

KU’s national publicity on ESPN will continue Saturday, when College GameDay comes to campus. It will have three hour-long shows – at 10 a.m., 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. – and will feature host Rece Davis, analysts Jay Bilas and Digger Phelps and appearances by Dick Vitale and Andy Katz.

Construction was under way this morning on a GameDay stage between the trophy cases on the east side of Allen Fieldhouse.

The first 40 groups of KU’s student campers will make up the studio audience for the 10 a.m. show. The 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. shows will be limited to ticketed fans for the KU-Texas game, which starts at 8 p.m.