Photo by Amy Frost

OU running back DeMarco Murray runs past Texas A&M defenders in the Sooners' 66-28 win over the Aggies Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008.

There’s a little buzz on campus this week, a little bit more than the typical buzz before an OU football game. And the players can say it’s just another game, but the noise on campus would suggest otherwise.

When No. 2 Texas Tech rolls into No. 5 Oklahoma’s house at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium for a primetime 7 p.m. showdown Saturday night in Norman, much will be at stake, the most since a 2000 game between then-No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 Oklahoma.

College Gameday is set to be on hand for what figures to be one of the best games of the year and one of the most important contests for both teams.

“Anytime Corso and Herbstreit and the [GameDay] guys come, you know it’s a huge game,” said electrical engineering junior Brian Ray.

Tech, with a win, would claim the Big 12 south and leap over a serious hurdle on its way to the national championship; OU, with a win, could sneak right back into the south and national championship hunts.

“If we’re going to go to the national championship, this is a must-win,” Ray said.

The Sooners have a little bit to prove this time around, he said.

“College Gameday’s going to see how good OU really is this week,” Ray said.

But the importance of the game is more than just that. Some Sooner students have already made their purchases for the annual conference championship up north in two weeks.

“OU needs to win the next two games to have a chance to go to Kansas City; I already have tickets to the Big 12 Championship,” said public relations senior Stacey Haire.

Others, just like some of the senior football players on the team, will experience the atmosphere as a student for their last time.

“It’s my last game as a student, and I’m pumped that it’s going to be the best one of all games I’ve been to with Gameday being there,” said psychology senior Sarah Davison.

Last year, students camped out for the affair against Missouri when College Gameday stopped in the Sooner state.

It should be no different this time around.

Perhaps the only difference is OU is ranked lower than the opponent it will face this time around.

The Gameday festivities will begin at 9 a.m. CT Saturday inside the track at the John Jacobs Track and Field Complex just east of the stadium.

—Story can also be found at collegegameday.com