Cal fans get Nick Saban to take off his red 'Stanford' tie

Jason Burke | Oct 6, 2024

Pat McAfee Nick Saban, and Lee Corso fist bump before live broadcast during ESPN Gameday near Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C.Saturday, September 14, 2024. / Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The rivalry between Stanford and Cal is real, and legendary head coach Nick Saban found that out on Saturday during College GameDay. Saban started the show with a red tie on, but in Berkeley, that color doesn't fly, so the enormous crowd behind him chanted until he switched to a more "appropriate" tie.

THE FANS GOT NICK SABAN TO TAKE OFF HIS TIE 😭 pic.twitter.com/e72ZYX6KS8

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 5, 2024

During the first game of the Stanford football season I wore a green shirt to cover the game, and had some members of the press jokingly keeping an eye on me since green is close enough to blue that it could be construed as a slight against Stanford. The rivalry goes both ways, just like when San Francisco Giants fans don't like the color blue, and Dodgers fans dislike orange.

Sports are fun like that, and even though Cal is the rival team, the vibes in Berkeley seemed to be immaculate for College GameDay. The crowd was into it, and the hosts on stage were loving the energy they were receiving from a group of people that had started to show up at 11 p.m. on Friday night.

For now, we say kudos to Cal for being excellent hosts this weekend. When it comes time for the Big Game, pleasantries will be tougher to come by.