A Celebrity Dog And an Orange Invasion in Norman: My First ESPN College GameDay Experience

The Sooners host their SEC debut Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. The usual sea of Crimson and Cream will be infested with Rocky Top orange, not just speckled.

SI.com's Bryce McKinnis visits with Tennessee fans during ESPN College GameDay in Norman on Sep. 21, 2024. /

NORMAN — OK, OK. I understand why they say the SEC means more.

Knoxville invaded Norman for ESPN College GameDay as every picker but Blake Shelton, Tishomingo’s second favorite son, picked the Volunteers at the University of Oklahoma’s South Oval. They made up probably 10-15 percent of the attendance. You would’ve thought it was 30.

Otherwise, my first "College GameDay" experience did not disappoint. I think most would agree. It was truly electric and the pronounced minority of orange enhanced the experience. I made friends with a few.

Good morning pic.twitter.com/vfZEbV5me3

— Bryce McKinnis (@McKinnisBryce) September 21, 2024

ESPN’s media liaison gave us two options to pick up our media credentials, 6:15 or 7:30 a.m. I planned to arrive at 6:15 to beat the crowd. I verbally declared “absolutely not” to the sound of my 5 a.m. alarm, came to terms with fighting traffic and rolled back over.

It was dark when I left and dawn by the time I arrived at the South Oval, which was already buzzing. I received my badge and was ushered backstage, where I met Ben Herbstreit and found a spot facing the "College GameDay" desk. A couple things you don’t see during commercial breaks: Nick Saban is dialed (and maybe a bit of a diva?). His body language indicated that he was in some type of dispute with the control room, but his eyes were glued to the monitor the entirety of the break. Desmond Howard and Kirk Herbstreit mostly just shuffle through their notes. Pat McAfee and Rece Davis are the class clowns.

Speaking of McAfee, I don’t hate him — hear me out. In a setting like "College GameDay," McAfee is a superstar. He pumped up the Norman crowd with his frat bro getup and immersed himself into its traditions in a way nobody else would. The TV football Everyman led the crowd in a couple “Boomer – Sooner – Texas – Sucks” call-and response chants while donning a white cowboy hat all three hours of the program. He was, like, 75 percent responsible for energizing the crowd.

After about 30 minutes, I determined there was little benefit to watching the show from the same angle all of you saw it, so I made my way into the crowd to ruffle feathers.

I spoke to brothers Alan and Danny Van Horn, University of Tennessee classes of 1983 and 1994, respectively. Alan settled nearby in Edmond.

“I’m sure that the OU-Texas rivalry is real,” said Danny. “What they’re going to have to realize is there’s no more Kansas States.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good way to look at it,” Alan said.

“Every freaking week is somebody you’re going to hate. Like, yeah, I told my children when they went to college, 'I’ll pay for you to go anywhere in the country, but I won’t pay a damn dime for you to go to Alabama, Florida, George, like, it ain’t happenin’,” Danny said. “Really. I’m not paying sorority dues, fraternity dues. I’m not giving you any money to live there.”

Alan picked his Volunteers to win 35-27; Danny went 31-25.

Ben & a fan pic.twitter.com/UG27zM0sj9

— Bryce McKinnis (@McKinnisBryce) September 21, 2024

I also met Joshua Willson, who previously lived in Knoxville but relocated to Wichita, KS. He took his son, Hayden, to Norman on Friday night and stayed for "College GameDay."

“We’ve traveled pretty well, as far as Tennessee fans, and people have been really nice,” Willson said. “So no, I don’t feel like the odd man out. Well, once it gets close to the game time, we’ll see. We’ll see how that changes, but right now, it’s pretty good.”

Later, I scoped out my favorite signs. From McAfee’s mugshot to “NEED BEER” with a Venmo handle to a poster likening Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel to Bobby Hill from "King of the Hill." The best read “This sign has as many Heismans as Tennessee.”

Then came the kick for $55,000. As a former high school kicker, I’ve always felt frustrated to watch college students miss what appears to be a short kick, but I thought I’d reserve judgment. Maybe the TV shrunk the length of the kick?

Nope. It’s all of a 27-yard field goal. Our guy tried his darndest on both attempts. The first made it about half the length before it landed into the crowd on the right side of the fence. The second was on-target but about 5 yards short. Took all I had to stomach it.

Then it was time for the Shelton cameo and the panel’s picks. The locals were none too happy when the panel picked USC to beat Michigan. McAfee really worked the crowd when he said to Shelton, sitting beside him, “Lincoln Riley, good coach.” Again, this guy has his hand to the pulse.

Shelton was boo’d when he picked Oklahoma State, too, which was only a little surprising. Three years ago, I think the crowd would have been cool with that. C’est la vie.

Then, the OU-Tennessee picks. Sigh.

Howard and Saban picked Tennessee. Then McAfee pump faked the crowd and drew the loudest boo of the day.

“Give me good ol' Rocky Top. Tennessee wins a big one to welcome Oklahoma to the SEC,” he said.

The good old boy, Shelton, stayed true and picked the Sooners. At least we have that.