On Friday, the sounds of drums and cheers will echo around paint brushes strewn on the ground after painting signs for College GameDay.
With the paint still drying on the signs, swarms of students and parents decked out in garnet and black will head to the Horseshoe in the hopes of being filmed in front of the GameDay set before the madness that will ensue Saturday morning.
As College GameDay inches closer, Student Government and the Athletic Department are organizing events to prepare the students for the game day atmosphere.
The festivities kick off Friday with the Beat Missouri pep rally on Greene Street at 11:45 a.m.
With appearances by the band, cheerleaders and a volleyball guest speaker, excitement is SG's goal.
“It shows how much spirit we have,” SG Secretary of Athletics Austin Solheim said. “The band will be there, the cheerleaders will be there. It’ll give them that game day experience before actually going to watch the game.”
And then there are the families who will be scattered throughout the garnet-and-black-clad students in the game day festivities during Parents Weekend. Parents are encouraged to join in on the activities going on around campus along with the scheduled Parents Weekend events.
“The parents are the ones that are going to benefit the most from this,” Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Jerry Brewer said. “They get to come for a great weekend and a true Carolina experience and they’re going to get GameDay and the excitement that goes with it.”
The pep rally is followed by a GameDay-sponsored corn hole tournament, and sign painting for Saturday's show will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday on Greene Street.
GameDay will shoot campus footage for Saturday's show at their set on the Horseshoe from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Friday.
All of the events lead up to the three-hour pregame show Saturday morning on the Horseshoe.
Student’s are allowed on the Horseshoe overnight beginning at 5 p.m. If campers choose to bring a tent, it must be taken down by 7 a.m. Saturday. Hammocks are prohibited, as is climbing on monuments.
No pets are allowed on the Horseshoe during the night and during the show. Students are also not allowed to bring heaters or anything with an open flame, as well as coolers and alcoholic beverages.
This will be the third time GameDay has set up on the Horseshoe and the third time in the school’s history that students are allowed to stay overnight on the Horseshoe.
Brewer expects thousands of students to camp out for the show and said the atmosphere will be so unique that he couldn’t replicate it, even if “I had a million dollars.”
“When you interact with all the students on the Horseshoe and you’re at such a historic place, this is what personifies college,” he said. “You couldn’t create this.”
Brewer also said the buildup of events and the show Saturday will contribute to a great atmosphere for the game Saturday night.
“Even if you’re not a football fan, it gets you excited for the team," he said. "I cant see any way, unless you don’t have a pulse, that this doesn’t get you excited about Carolina football.”
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