Ad Disclosure
A rare primetime stage for the American Athletic Conference, the No. 15 SMU Mustangs (8-0) will travel to the Liberty Bowl to battle the No. 24 Memphis Tigers (7-1) on Saturday.
Anticipated to be one of the best Group of Five matchups of the season, the College GameDay crew is setting up on the iconic Beale Street, the show’s first time ever visiting Memphis.
Hey Memphis, don’t miss GameDay this Saturday on Beale St. and S B.B. King Blvd ? pic.twitter.com/EvQfl3gsY4
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) November 1, 2019
On Friday, a hometown star revealed himself to be the guest picker for the show on Twitter:
The news is out!!! I'm the guest picker on @CollegeGameDay this Saturday LIVE from Beale St. in Memphis! Don't miss it! pic.twitter.com/ifJ512pCY9
— Jerry Lawler (@JerryLawler) November 1, 2019
A professional wrestler and color commentator for “World Wrestling Entertainment Raw,” the 69-year-old Lawler was born in Memphis.
Making his professional debut in 1970, Lawler has established himself as one of the WWE’s most recognizable figures and biggest ambassadors. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.
Opening their season with a 15-10 victory over Ole Miss on August 31, Memphis raced out of the gate to a 5-0 start. Falling to Temple, 30-28, on October 12 in Philadelphia, the Tigers have since bounced back to win two straight.
Narrowly escaping with a 42-41 win, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane had a chance to knock off Memphis on October 26, but redshirt freshman Jacob Rainey missed a 29-yard field goal as time expired.
Already their first eight-win season since 2011 when June Jones was still the head coach, SMU is in the driver’s seat in the AAC West.
Grad transferring from Texas, senior quarterback Sam Buechele has been excellent, throwing for 2,325 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Saturday’s action will kick at 7:30PM ET on ABC with Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Maria Taylor on the call.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Teddy Rydquist has been contributing to Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition since 2019. In addition to his work here, he has covered the Michigan Wolverines for GBMWolverine and Wolverine Digest. He can be found on Twitter @TeddyRydquist.
