FAYETTEVILLE — The Saturday forecast for Arlington, Texas, calls for rain, with conditions right for an instant classic.
Arkansas and Texas A&M have turned in some memorable finishes over the years at AT&T Stadium. And announcer Joe Tessitore has been in the ESPN booth for some of college football's best games of the past decade.
But never have the two forces met until Saturday's 8:15 p.m. kickoff on ESPN. Tessitore will be on the call with color analyst Todd Blackledge and field reporter Holly Rowe.
By now you've surely heard of the "Tess Effect" - Internet slang for the whacky finishes that Tessitore's voice has narrated. Arkansas fans experienced it firsthand two weeks ago in Fort Worth, Texas, with an incredible 41-38 double-overtime win at TCU.
Tessitore was especially boisterous on Arkansas' game-tying two-point conversion with 1:03 left, exclaiming, "Reverse! To pass! Allen...wow! Touchdown Arkansas. I mean, Bret Bielema pulled everything out that time."
"It was so outrageous that I called it a touchdown," Tessitore said. "I love when a play-caller in the biggest moment does the unexpected - just rolls the dice and plays to win. I thought it was so gutsy and I loved that fourth quarter and overtime because of how unpredictable everything was.
"I would love to get some MIT mathematical whiz to tell me what the chances are that that could possibly happen."
Tessitore and Blackledge were also on the call for the double overtime game between Texas and Notre Dame earlier this month. They left the Lone Star State last week for an unspectacular game between Stanford and Southern Cal, but return for a game that has been ripe with the unexpected in recent years.
The Southwest Classic has turned out some classics from Arlington. Texas A&M has overcome fourth quarter deficits to win in overtime the past two seasons, and Arkansas overcame an 18-point halftime deficit to win their last game at the stadium before that in 2011.
"The way these guys have played in recent years, it's like they don't really need me there," Tessitore said. "They don't need the Tess Effect. They've already generated something else.
"I think it's the most intriguing game of the whole weekend and not just because it's my assignment. I think both these teams are the X-factor of the SEC."
Tessitore said he laughs at the "Tess Effect" motto, but said he cherishes his small role in a game he loves.
"I am a psycho college football fan," Tessitore said. "I am the guy that if I wasn't doing this for a living, would be on my couch from the moment GameDay starts until the last Pac-12 game is over, going from great finish to great finish. I spent my entire childhood going to D-3 games, driving over to Boston College games and coming home and watching Keith Jackson on ABC.
"If the fans and the Twitter-verse have a lot of fun every time I broadcast a game, that's awesome. If the football gods for many years now have blessed me with the whackiest finishes and circumstances, I'm just enjoying myself. I'm having a blast in the booth. I just lose myself and have fun."