Cal fans shamed Nick Saban into removing his crimson tie on College GameDay

ESPN’s College GameDay made its first visit to Berkeley, California on Saturday, descending deep into the Calgorithm as the show threw itself at the mercy of a Golden Bears fanbase that’s taken the ACC by storm.

That mercy was not granted to anyone wearing red. It’s certainly understandable. This is Cal’s moment. Those fans simply don’t want to see the primary color of their hated rivals up at Stanford anywhere near campus on Saturday.

The show’s host, Rece Davis, didn’t get the message before arriving for the show’s broadcast at 6 a.m. local time. He learned quickly enough about his mistake.

Cal fans did not like Rece's red tie, so something had to be done pic.twitter.com/fhuAKFRLe2

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 5, 2024

But the Cal fans weren’t done. Because former Alabama coach Nick Saban was on the set wearing his crimson tie, too. Now, he may be the greatest college coach of the modern era, but if you’re in the Bay Area wearing red around Cal fans, none of that matters.

Which meant the GameDay crowd spent hours jeering Saban and chanting “take it off” before he finally gave in. It sure seems like he didn’t have much of a choice.

The Cal students and Pat McAfee were very happy when Nick Saban took off his red tie. #CollegeGameDay pic.twitter.com/8XmtEmXFsE

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 5, 2024

Credit to Saban for being a good sport about it all. But everyone on set should’ve known better — even if they’ve never been to Berkeley before.