With College Gameday headed to Oklahoma vs. Texas this weekend at the neutral site of the Cotton Bowl, ESPN had the luxury of not needing a celebrity guest picker with a connection to the home team specifically. Therefore, the network is going with arguably the most famous Sooners player in the past decade.
Gameday announced on social media Thursday that Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield will be this week’s guest picker ahead of the Red River Rivalry. Mayfield, of course, spent three seasons at Oklahoma and currently sits second on the Sooners’ all time passing yards and touchdowns leaders lists behind just former quarterback Landry Jones.
This guy knows a thing or two about the Red River Rivalry 😏
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 5, 2023
See you Saturday, @bakermayfield!#CollegeGameDay pic.twitter.com/TIx66zlr4k
In his time at Oklahoma, Mayfield totaled over 12,000 passing yards with 119 passing touchdowns and just 21 interceptions in 30 games. His 2017 season was good enough for him to win the Heisman Trophy, one of seven winners of the award in Oklahoma history and the first of back-to-back Heismans for Sooners quarterbacks—Kyler Murray won the award the following year.
In three career starts vs. Texas as the Oklahoma quarterback, Mayfield went 2–1, but the Sooners finished ahead of the Longhorns in each season.
Mayfield is free this week since Tampa Bay has their bye week in the NFL, but the quarterback is enjoying a resurgent season thus far. The Buccaneers sit at 3–1 entering their bye, and Mayfield has 882 passing yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions through four games.