Oklahoma Sooners fans revolt after ESPN shows helmet design nobody wanted

Will we see a new helmet on Saturday?
SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It was only brief and it was subtle, but Sooner Nation immediately noticed and did not approve.

ESPN is in Norman this weekend for the No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners' massive game against the No. 15 Michigan Wolverines in a rare meeting between two blue blood programs. College GameDay will have its show from the South Oval on OU's campus on Saturday morning, but the crew was already around Friday and filming different segments ahead of the game of the week.

During a segment from the College GameDay set, on which ESPN always puts two helmets from the competing teams, the traditional crimson OU helmet had a white stripe down the middle. And OU fans were not having it before the helmet was swapped with the usual helmet without a stripe.

ESPN shows OU helmet with white stripe

Although it was removed after being seen, there has to be a reason ESPN got its hands on the striped helmet. That means those helmets at least exist and someone from OU gave one to ESPN.

That opens up the possibility of the Sooners unveiling this new helmet on Saturday against Michigan in primetime. There's even more reason to believe there's more truth to the Sooners debuting this striped helmet, because OU is also coordinating sections to stripe out Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium for the game. A simple white stripe on the helmets would fit the theme, so don't surprised if this really is the helmet the Sooners don against Michigan.

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