Bulldog Sports Network & Sunny 97.3 FM To Carry Extended Anchor-Bone Classic Pregame Show This Saturday
Big Rapids, Mich. - The Bulldog Sports Network and local flagship station Sunny 97.3 FM have announced this Saturday's (Oct. 16) Anchor-Bone Classic gridiron showdown between Ferris State and Grand Valley State will feature an extended pregame radio show live from Lubbers Stadium in Allendale.
The Johnson Automotive Pregame Show will begin an hour prior to kickoff at 6 p.m. (ET) and be carried live both on Sunny 97.3 FM and online at FerrisStateBulldogs.com. The veteran broadcast crew of Rob Bentley and Sandy Gholston will team up to call the battle between the Bulldogs and the Lakers.
In addition to the extended pregame coverage and the live game broadcast, fans can also listen to the Preferred Office Machines Postgame Show immediately following the game across the Bulldog Sports Network.
Both teams head into Saturday night's contest ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation and it will represent the 12th time in series' history in which both squads have been ranked in the major D2 national poll at kickoff. FSU is ranked third in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II Rankings again this week with GVSU seventh in the listing. Both teams are ranked among the country's top 10 in virtually every D2 poll.
The game is sold out of all paid tickets, including standing room only tickets and only limited student tickets remain for current GVSU students.
Saturday's game will mark the sixth-straight regular season matchup in which both teams have been ranked among the top 15 nationally at kickoff time and the eighth consecutive time overall, including postseason games in both 2015 and 2016. Six years ago, when the Bulldogs notched a decisive 61-24 regular-season victory in 2015 in Allendale, it represented the first time both teams had been in the top 15 in 20 years since a 30-21 FSU victory over the Lakers on Sept. 30, 1995, in Big Rapids.
Overall, the two squads have both been found previously in the national rankings at kickoff time in the regular-season in 1993, 1994, 1995, 2008, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons along with postseason matchups in both 2015 and 2016. FSU owns a 6-3-1 mark all-time against the Lakers when both squads are nationally-ranked.
The Bulldogs head into Saturday's tilt with a 5-0 overall record and a 2-0 league slate following a bye week, which came on the heels of a 67-25 league road win at Northwood on Oct. 2. Meanwhile, the Lakers are presently also 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the GLIAC after beating Northwood 70-9 at home this past Saturday (Oct. 9) night.
Ferris State has captured seven of the last eight regular-season matchups between the two West Michigan rivals. The two teams have both also squared off in the NCAA Division II Playoffs twice in recent history with GVSU winning in 2015 in Big Rapids before FSU returned the favor with a 47-32 triumph over the Lakers in 2016 in Allendale in the Super Region Four Championship game. Bulldog head coach Tony Annese, who ranks as the nation's winningest active head coach at all NCAA levels (.850), owns an overall 8-2 mark against GVSU in his career.
The Anchor Bone Trophy is awarded annually to the winner of the Ferris State-Grand Valley State football game. The trophy debuted in 2002 and GVSU won the first nine matchups before FSU maintained possession of the trophy four consecutive years from 2012-15. The Lakers reclaimed the trophy in the regular-season in 2016 before the Bulldogs won a thrilling 28-27 decision at Top Taggart Field in 2017 in the NCAA Division II National Game of the Week. FSU beat the Lakers 35-31 in its last visit to Lubbers Stadium in 2018 and then topped Grand Valley State 21-16 at home in Big Rapids in 2019 as part of the televised kickoff event to Fox Sports Detroit's "Football Week In Michigan" promotion. GVSU holds a 29-20-1 all-time series' advantage entering Saturday's showdown between the two schools with FSU having won the last three games and eight of the past 10 overall.
Presently, the Bulldogs enter Saturday's game riding a 33-game regular-season winning streak dating back to 2017 and Ferris State has also currently won a school all-time best 18 consecutive road games. The Bulldogs are the country's winningest Division II football program over the past eight years and have reached the NCAA Division II National Semifinals three of the past four seasons, excluding 2020 when no season was held due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to an appearance in the 2018 D2 National Championship game.