GameDay chooses KU-MU hoops

ESPN selects Feb. 4 contest in Columbia as part of showcase

Kansas fans go wild as members of the ESPN College GameDay crew Rece Davis, left, Hubert Davis, Digger Phelps and Jay Bilas go live from James Naismith Court at Allen Fieldhouse. Students were allowed to enter around 8 a.m.

Kansas University’s Border War basketball battle against Missouri on Feb. 4 at Mizzou Arena will be featured as part of ESPN’s College GameDay experience, the network announced on Thursday.

Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m., in Columbia, Mo.

KU also remains in the running to play host to GameDay later in the season. The network will decide during the 2011-12 season whether to visit Allen Fieldhouse for the KU-Texas game on March 3, or head to Durham, N.C., for the Duke-North Carolina game.

If Kansas is selected, it would mark the show’s fifth visit to the school (2004-05, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2010-11), which would be the most of any program.

“This is a great way to showcase the KU program and the Big 12 Conference,” KU coach Bill Self said. “As much as we enjoy playing on GameDay, we like hosting the crew even more and showcasing Allen Fieldhouse, the best venue for college basketball.”

This year’s complete GameDay schedule: North Carolina at Florida State, Jan. 14; Louisville at Pittsburgh, Jan. 21; Washington at Arizona, Jan. 28; KU at Missouri, Feb. 4; Kentucky at Vanderbilt, Feb. 11; Ohio State at Michigan, Feb. 18; Syracuse at UConn, Feb. 25; Texas at KU or UNC at Duke, March 3.

Here are KU’s past appearances on GameDay: KU 90, Kansas State 66, Jan. 29, 2011, Allen Fieldhouse; KU 81, Kansas State 79, Jan. 30, 2010, Manhattan; KU 88, KSU 74, March 1, 2008, Allen; Texas A&M 69, KU 66, Feb. 4, 2007, Allen; Texas 80, KU 55, Feb. 25, 2006, Austin; KU 90, Texas 65, Jan. 29, 2005, Allen.

2012 ESPN College GameDay schedule

Jan. 14: North Carolina at Florida State

Jan. 21: Louisville at Pittsburgh

Jan. 28: Washington at Arizona

Feb. 4: Kansas at Missouri

Feb. 11: Kentucky at Vanderbilt

Feb. 18: Ohio State at Michigan

Feb. 25: Syracuse at Connecticut

Mar. 3: North Carolina at Duke or Texas at Kansas

ESPN’s list: ESPN has released its updated rankings of the top 100 prospects in college basketball’s recruiting class of 2012.

KU targets on the list include: No. 1: Shabazz Muhammad, 6-6, Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman High; No. 7 Kaleb Tarczewski, 7-foot, St. Mark’s High, Southborough, Mass.; No. 12 Marcus Smart, 6-4, Marcus High, Flower Mound, Texas; No. 14 Archie Goodwin, 6-4 Sylvan Hills High, Little Rock, Ark.; No. 33 Willie Cauley, 6-10, Olathe Northwest; No. 38 Perry Ellis, 6-8, Wichita Heights; No. 50 Robert Upshaw, 6-11, San Joaquin Memorial High, Fresno, Calif.; No. 69 Winston Shepard, 6-8, Findlay Prep, Henderson, Nev.

Offer: KU this week offered a scholarship to Brannen Greene, a 6-7 junior small forward from Mary Persons High in Forsyth, Ga., Rivals.com reports. Greene has a long list of schools that includes Duke, Memphis, Alabama, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky and Louisville.

He plans on attending KU’s Late Night in the Phog on Oct. 14.