Ol’ Crimson streak in jeopardy as College GameDay announces 2019 debut in Magic Kingdom

Four years ago, Ol’ Crimson’s streak of appearances on the ESPN College GameDay set was placed in serious jeopardy when the infamous Washington State flag was held up in transit en route to Tucson, Arizona.

Ol’ Crimson eventually did make it to Arizona via overnight UPS shipping, prolonging the streak to 166 consecutive appearances.

But now one of college football’s favorite traditions is facing another pickle.

The Ol’ Crimson flag is scheduled to make its 225th straight cameo on the GameDay set when the 2019 college football season opens, but there’s also a chance the 16-year-old tradition will come to a sudden end when the show debuts on Aug. 24 at Magic Kingdom Park in Orlando, Florida.

The first show of the season will coincide with Florida’s clash with Miami as part of the Camping World Kickoff at Camping World Stadium in Florida.

That same morning, the award-winning cast of Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Rece Davis and Desmond Howard will take the College GameDay set at Magic Kingdom.

According to Walt Disney Resort Property Rules, “flags, banners, signs, horns, whistles, large megaphones and artificial noisemakers” are prohibited inside park grounds. The park lists a complete set of rules at DisneyWorld.com/parkrules.

Ol’ Crimson has flown at College GameDay every week since Oct. 4, 2003, when founder and WSU alum Tom Pounds drove from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico to a game between Kansas State and Texas in Austin, Texas. The next week, another Cougar alum asked if he could wave the flag on the set of a game between Purdue and Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin.

College GameDay made its very first visit to Pullman last season, ahead of a Pac-12 North clash between 12th-ranked Oregon and the 25th-ranked Cougars. Tens of thousands of fans packed into a small area in front of Martin Stadium, on the corner of Ferdinand’s Lane and Stadium Way.