In yet another sign that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are turning the right heads, Baker Mayfield will be spending part of his bye week on the national stage.
The Bucs are on their bye week, but Mayfield will once again find himself in hostile territory hoping his team secures a big road win. Baker announced that he will be the celebrity guest picker on College Gameday this Saturday when it visits Austin for the latest installment of the Red River Rivalry.
I'll be the @CollegeGameDay guest picker in Dallas this weekend for the Red River Rivalry and can't wait to see all the Sooner fans come out #Boomer pic.twitter.com/xtpz0DaAJs
— Baker Mayfield (@bakermayfield) October 6, 2023
Not only is this cool for Mayfield, it's yet another ringing endorsement of the Buccaneers and the resepct their commanding on a national level. Who would have thought when Mayfield signed with Tampa Bay back in March that anything happening this weekend would be reailty?
Tampa Bay is 3-1 and in sole possession of first place in the NFC South. The team is coming off its most impressive performance of the season, having gone into New Orleans and absolutely dismantled the Saints. Everything is clicking for the Bucs, from the way the offense looks to the defense playing on an elite level, and Baker is once again a darling among NFL fans and media.
Both Oklahoma and Texas have plenty of famous alumni to choose from for a celebrity guest picker, but they chose Baker. More than that, ESPN chose Baker to be the guest picker for a rivalry game that wasn't even taking place in Norman, which further goes to show how high his stock is right now -- and by extension, the Buccaneers.
It's been an amazing about face for Baker and the Bucs, and the good times are rolling in ways nobody could have predicted this offseason.
What is a guest picker on College Gameday?
For those who don't know, each week ESPN's College Gameday travels to the home campus of its featured primetime game. As part of the big pregame show -- which is like the NFL on FOX pregame show -- a celebrity is brought in during the predictions segement to make some picks.
That's what Baker Mayfield is doing on Saturday.
ESPN usually swings for the fences with the celebrity they pick, like having LeBron James for an Ohio State game or Will Ferrell for a USC game. Logic would suggest that Matthew McConaughey makes natural sense to be the guest picker for a game that Texas is hosting, which is why the decision to go with Baker is even better.
College GameDay airs Saturday mornings starting at 9am ET on ESPN and runs until kickoff of the first game.