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What is Ol' Crimson? History, streak, what to know on Washington State flag at 'College GameDay'

john leuzzi, usa today network
·5 min read

Every week, ESPN's "College GameDay" travels to a different college town to break down the biggest storylines and games within college football.

But in all this, one thing has remained constant over the last two decades. And it is not Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and now Nick Saban appearing on the "GameDay" desk each week.

That'd be good Ol' Crimson.

REQUIRED READING: Where is 'College GameDay' for Week 3? Location, what to know for ESPN show

Since its debut down in Texas in 2003, the flag of Washington State has become a staple on "College GameDay" and is one of the most sought-after things for fans to look for either on TV or on-site at "GameDay" week after week.

And so, as Ol' Crimson gears up for its 306th flying over "College GameDay" on Saturday, curiosity has once again risen on the story behind it and how it became a recognizable figure.

Here's more on the background of Ol' Crimson.

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What school does the 'College GameDay' Ol' Crimson flag represent?

If you couldn't guess it, Ol' Crimson represents the flag of Washington State. The colors for the Cougars, who are just one of two teams remaining in the Pac-12, are crimson and grey, which is where you get the nickname "Ol' Crimson" from.

Ol' Crimson 'GameDay' streak

This Saturday's "College GameDay" at South Carolina ahead of the Gamecocks' SEC home opener vs. No. 17 LSU will be the 306th consecutive "GameDay" appearance for Ol' Crimson. Its flying dates back to Oct. 4, 2003, when "GameDay" was at Texas-Kansas State, but it's a streak that didn't start until Oct. 18 in Madison, Wisconsin when Wisconsin took on Purdue.

"You always turn around, at least I do anyway, at the crowd and take it all in because you never want to fall into the idea that every backdrop is the same. It was so random to see a Washington State crimson flag kind of waving (there)," former "GameDay" host Chris Fowler said in a "College GameDay" Flashback episode in 2021. "We were nowhere near Pullman, Washington at the time."

Here's a look at Ol' Crimson flying high in Dublin back in Week 1, as "College GameDay" held its first-ever international show ahead of Florida State-Georgia Tech in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic.

History of Ol' Crimson flag at 'College GameDay'

College football is one of the most distinct tradition-based sports in the college athletics calendar year.

And that's how Ol' Crimson at "College GameDay" started.

As noted by its website, the flying of Ol' Crimson started as a "school pride" and "spirit" thing but turned into a campaign and movement to get ESPN to bring "GameDay" to Washington State. It'd take 15 years for ESPN to bring "GameDay" to Pullman, Washington — which came Week 8 of the 2018 college football season.

Tom Pounds is credited with being "The Godfather" of Ol' Crimson at "GameDay." Pounds graduated from Washington State in 1981.

"I just happened to be in Austin, Texas. I'm almost 6-foot-7 in shoes," Pounds said in that ESPN "GameDay" piece. "I did get a lot of strange looks and I flew the flag. That's how it started."

So with Pounds being"The Godfather" behind Ol' Crimson, does he travel to "GameDay" each week? No, not necessarily. That'd be a lot of flyer miles racked up if it was the case.

Per its website, the Ol' Crimson Booster Club is the operating body behind finding a way to get Ol' Crimson to the site of "College GameDay" each week. Each week the Booster Club, led by Pounds and Cameron McCoy, mails the flag kit via FedEx to a Washington State alum or fan near the location of that week's "GameDay" site.

"As ESPN announces the location of the next CGD show, coordinators (Tom Pounds, and CJ McCoy of WSU Class of 1998) e-mail and phone the people on the list in the region/city where the show will be broadcast. As one of the alums or fans responds, the flag kit is sent from where it was the previous Saturday to where it will be the following Saturday," the website writes.

Ol' Crimson has become such a figure at "GameDay" each week, that ESPN made a TV promotion for "GameDay" around Ol' Crimson and Pounds in 2022.

Has 'College GameDay' ever been to Washington State?

Yes. "GameDay" has traveled to Pullman, Washington once in its history, coming in 2018 against No. 12 Oregon on Oct. 20.

As expected the turnout for "GameDay" that week in Pullman was so large that the State of Washington declared a state of emergency to have enough security and law enforcement on-site to help with the crowd control.

"I think I teared up a bit,” Pounds told KREM2, a CBS affiliate in Spokane, Washington back in 2018 on what he felt when he learned "GameDay" was heading to WSU. “I actually got a message from one of the ESPN producers, and all he said was, ‘Hey Tom, go over to Twitter right now and look.’ It took me about five seconds to realize, this is really happening.”

Here's a look at the crowd in Pullman with Ol' Crimson flying and welcoming the "GameDay" bus to town.

The Cougars have appeared on "GameDay" two other times; at the 1988 Rose Bowl vs. No. 1 Michigan and in 2002 against No. 6 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.

How to watch 'College GameDay'

You can watch "College GameDay" weekly on ESPN throughout the college football season. You can also stream "College GameDay" on the ESPN app by logging in with your TV provider credentials, on ESPN+ or on Fubo, which carries the ESPN family of networks and offers a free trial to new subscribers.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ol' Crimson flag, explained: What to know on 'College GameDay' staple