Tailgating at The Red River Rivalry

What happens when you take two of the most passionate fan bases in the country pit them annually at a neutral site with national title hopes on the line? O, did I mention there would also be ferris wheels, carnival rides, and fried butter? This could only be the Red River Rivalry. Here is what happens on when game day between TX and OK, Texas State Fair style.

When planning your tailgate, the most important thing to do before you arrive is have your menu prepared! You need to know what you will be cooking on gameday and have all of the appropriate prep work done before you arrive. Here is some inspiration for your gameday menu based upon what I saw while tailgating at the Texas State Fair grounds.

The food at the TX/OU game is like non other. Every delicious fair food you can imagine is there! You can tailgate with your own food out in the parking lot, but with this wide array of fair treats inside the fair, you might decide to leave the grill at home. Here is a sampling of the game day eats you can find on the Texas Fair grounds.

The legendary corny dog…

Smoked turkey legs…

grilled alligator…

Cheesy Tornado Taters

Chicken fried bacon…

Funnel cake…

Deep fried cookie dough…

Deep fried butter…

Fresh squeezed lemonade and…

of course plenty of beer!

Just remember that while in the fair, you need tickets

to get your food items. I recommend getting your tickets early, or even going the day before, because the lines can get quite long !

At no other game in the country does it matter more what color you decide to wear than this one. Texas and Oklahoma are the most hated of rivals, so you must choose to align your self with one. On game day outside the stadium, all you will see is either crimson or burnt orange. Here is a small sampling of T shirts, that will give you a sense of these two teams attitudes towards one another.

If T shirts aren’t your style then there were plenty of jerseys worn as well.

With this being Texas, there have to be cowboy boots.

Along with cow boy boots, there was no shortage of dresses, polos, and cowboy hats. All that matters when you attend the TX/OU game is you make sure you choose the correct color!

This color division makes it pretty easy to pick out who is cheering for the same team as you.

There are parking lots outside the fairgrounds where you can set up your tailgate and grill all of your favorite game day foods. If you decide to do this, you must make sure you have enough time to wander the fairgrounds as well. The second strategy is to leave the car behind all together. Instead take the DART.

The DART transit system will take you pretty much anywhere you need to go while you are in Dallas. Dallas is 3 hours south of Norman and 3 hours north of Austin; the perfect distance for a neutral site game. Most Longhorn and Sooner fans make a weekend out of the game. They will come in on Thursday or early Friday and leave on Sunday. Hotels will book up fast so make sure you have your reservations made. With this massive influx of fans, traffic outside of the stadium can be awful. Luckily the DART is a great way to go to the game! You can skip the parking all together.

The Texas/Oklahoma game is one of the most unique game day atmospheres you will EVER see. Not only is it a great conference rivalry with national title dreams on the line, but it takes place at one of the best State Fairs in the country.

The Cotton Bowl (where the game is held) is located inside the fair grounds. To even get to the game, you have to go into the fair. On game day, your ticket will give you free entry to the fair, if you don’t have a game ticket no worries. You can just by fair admission and still take part in the game day atmosphere! Before the game you can take part in all the food and fun that a state fair provides. You can watch the game, and then continue to enjoy the fun of the fair after the game! A state fair and amazing football game all in one, consider this the Disney World of college football games. Just look at all these fans!

The Texas State fair is a unique and amazing experience in itself, but inside of the Cotton Bowl on game day, there is a unique and amazing site. It is called the split.

You can distinctly see where the division between Texas and Oklahoma fans occur. One side of the stadium is all crimson while the other is burnt orange. On a Touchdown or other huge play, one half will cheer while the opposing side will be dead quiet. Even if you aren’t an Oklahoma of a Texas fan, seeing this split is an amazing site.

I could go on and on about the atmosphere and sites that the Texas State fair has to offer. All I can say is that if you want to be a part of one of the greatest college football game day environments, make a trip to the Big D for the Red River Rivalry, I promise. You won’t regret it.