Saturday is shaping up to be one of the biggest football days Knoxville has seen in years.

No. 14 Tennessee hosts No. 1 Texas at Neyland Stadium at noon, ESPN College GameDay is back on Rocky Top, Checker Neyland returns, and President Donald Trump is expected to attend.

Add a sold-out stadium, enhanced security and thousands of fans arriving before sunrise, and Knoxville is preparing for a game day that will feel bigger than usual long before kickoff.

And the football game is only part of the story.

ESPN’s College GameDay is returning to Knoxville for the 13th time, with the first two hours broadcasting live from the lawn at Ayres Hall from 9–11 a.m. The final hour will move inside Neyland Stadium from 11 a.m. until kickoff. ESPN’s lead ABC crew of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe will then call the game.

The campus atmosphere actually begins well before sunrise.

The Hill opens at 5 a.m. Saturday, and the College GameDay pit at Ayres Hall opens at 6:30 a.m. Fans hoping to get close to the set will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis. Overnight camping on campus is not allowed.

Checker Neyland is back

Neyland Stadium is sold out for the 30th consecutive game, and Saturday will also bring back one of Tennessee football’s most recognizable traditions: Checker Neyland.

Fans are being asked to wear orange or white based on their seating section, though Tennessee Athletics has changed the color assignments from previous Checker Neyland games. Fans should confirm their section color before leaving home rather than relying on what they wore in past years.

With more than 100,000 fans expected inside Neyland and thousands more gathering around campus for GameDay, Knoxville should expect heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic throughout the morning.

Presidential visit means extra security

President Donald Trump is expected to attend Saturday’s game, adding another major layer to an already unusually busy game day.

Tennessee Athletics says all Neyland Stadium gates will open at 9 a.m., three hours before kickoff. Ticketed fans are being strongly encouraged to arrive substantially earlier than they would for a typical game because the Secret Service will conduct enhanced screening at stadium entrances.

Additional security checkpoints and verification procedures are also expected around the stadium.

Fans should travel light, have their mobile tickets ready before reaching the gates and review both UT’s clear-bag rules and the Secret Service prohibited-items list before arriving. There will be no place at the stadium to store prohibited belongings.

Once a ticket is scanned, re-entry will not be allowed.

Expect traffic well before kickoff

Even on an ordinary Tennessee home Saturday, the roads around campus can become difficult.

This will not be an ordinary Saturday.

UT says temporary road closures, traffic-control measures and changes to pedestrian routes may be implemented around campus because of the presidential visit. Heavy traffic is expected several hours before kickoff and again after the game.

For anyone attending College GameDay, tailgating or the game itself, the simplest advice is to arrive earlier than you think you need to.

Saturday’s schedule makes that especially important:

5 a.m. — The Hill opens
6:30 a.m. — College GameDay pit opens
8:20 a.m. — Countdown to GameDay begins online
9 a.m. — Neyland Stadium gates open; College GameDay begins at Ayres Hall
11 a.m. — College GameDay moves inside Neyland Stadium
Noon — Tennessee vs. Texas kicks off on ABC

A rare meeting between two UTs

The matchup itself has a little extra novelty.

Despite both programs’ long histories, Tennessee and Texas have played only three previous times. Tennessee won the 1951 Cotton Bowl, while Texas won meetings in 1953 and 1969. Saturday will be their first meeting in Knoxville and first regular-season matchup.

This time, Texas arrives ranked No. 1, while Tennessee enters ranked No. 14 in the AP poll and No. 13 in the coaches poll.

The combination of a top-ranked opponent, an SEC opener, Checker Neyland, College GameDay and a presidential visit means the usual rhythms of a Tennessee football Saturday will be amplified considerably.

For Knoxville residents who are not going to the game, it is still worth knowing what is happening. Expect congestion around downtown, campus, Cumberland Avenue, Neyland Drive and major routes feeding into the university area for much of Saturday.

For those who are going, the day starts early.

Very early.

And by noon, one of the biggest stages in college football will be centered squarely on Knoxville.