Young women at the University of Oklahoma are choosing to wear neutral-colored outfits to avoid harassment at rivalry games. 

With a tremendous loss for OU last year, many students worried their team would not win at this year's Red River Rivalry. This 123-year rivalry tradition has been a staple in the college cultures of the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas. Both schools travel to Dallas, Texas, annually to attend this game, and the young women at both universities take great pride in their outfits. 

There has been a trend this year in young women wearing more neutral outfits and adding accessories like OU game day buttons. This way, they could take off the parts of their outfits and be easily unaffiliated to either side. 

“I honestly just get scared of how others react if we lose. People in the South are extremely passionate about sports, especially football. Wearing red or crimson makes you stand out amongst the crowd,” says University of Oklahoma Junior, Isabella DiPasquale.

In recent years, there have been consistent reports of harassment and even violence at rivalry football games. For example, in 2019, the Iowa instate rivalry was brought to the forefront of college football news as fans allegedly abused the opposing teams' band members. Incidents like these have caused professionals to evaluate the psychology behind rivalry games. 

“Sports rivalries have been shown to increase the emotional intensity of fans, which not only can lead to higher levels of interest and involvement but can also escalate negative fan behaviors based on in-group/out-group distinctions,” says Brian M. Mills, Scott Tainsky, B. Christine Green, and Becca Leopkey in a physiological study evaluating College Football Rivalry games. 

After last year's rivalry game, the verbal harassment OU students experienced caused young women to rethink what they should wear. The “OUTX” outfit is significant to the fashion of OU young women as it is the most important game-day outfit of the year. Young women had to rethink what they wore before heading down to Dallas. 

“I decided to wear white to the game, paired with small red details, so I was not as easily identifiable by other fans; I have plenty of terrible experiences with Texas fans when, in years past, I have worn red. Wearing white made my experience at the game more enjoyable this year,” says University of Oklahoma Junior Dayton Flesner.  

Instances like these make one question why fans should endure the frustration of the opposing teams' supporters and question the meaning behind rivalry games.