STILLWATER, Okla. -- Back on Oct. 27, a posting on the SEC website announcing Missouri's entrance into the league went public, making headlines across the country.
That included Stillwater, Okla., where Oklahoma State student Trey Gaddy heard the news. Gaddy, a sports management student intern, was in charge of raising the flags of each Big 12 team outside Boone Pickens Stadium and decided to have a little fun at the Tigers expense.
On Thursday night, he raised the Mizzou flag on the west side of the stadium upside-down, intending to move the flag right side up before Saturday's game against Baylor.
"We did it as a joke," Gaddy said early Sunday morning outside the stadium while taking down the flags only a couple hours after a 52-45 Oklahoma State win over Kansas State.
It was homecoming weekend, though, and Gaddy got distracted. He forgot to make the change. The flag stayed upside down and made its way across the Internet on Saturday when fans flooded Stillwater.
Hence, Gaddy's mistake is why the school classified the flag miscue as an accident in a statement.
Coincidentally, Missouri announced its official exit from the Big 12 on Sunday, eight days after the flag incident.
A photo of the flag printed out ended up on the desk of the office where Gaddy worked, too.
Oklahoma State super booster Boone Pickens even e-mailed Gaddy's boss to ask what happened with the flag.
"I actually saw your post about the mystery man," Gaddy told me. "I showed it to a couple friends and told them I did it."
No one was seriously punished, Gaddy said, but the embarrassing incident is behind them.
"It was all just fun and games," he said.