US President Barack Obama (R) and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (L) arrive for the first presidential debate at Magness Arena at the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado, October 3, 2012. After hundreds of campaign stops, $500 million in mostly negative ads and countless tit-for-tat attacks, Obama and Romney went head-to-head in their debut debate. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/GettyImages)
So a few months ago, as they planned how to promote the debate that DU hosted Wednesday, they decided they'd send some DU paraphernalia to SNL's producers.
Last week they sent off a box of DU banners, T-shirts, coffee cups, logos and aerial footage of the campus - everything they thought the producers might need for a debate sketch. The producers acknowledged getting the box but didn't promise any mentions of the school.
In its opening sketch Saturday, SNL mentioned the university and showed a scene from campus but didn't end up using any of the props. Still, DU's vice chancellor of marketing and communications, Kevin Carroll, gives his team credit for the idea of reaching out to producers.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)