After loud cheers and Pat McAfee removing his top, the College Gameday’s time in Salt Lake City was a success. The next location is confirmed as Kirk Herbstreit dropped a sly hint about a possible Patrick Mahomes appearance if things lined up just right. Since then, the rumors have spun out of control. Could College GameDay really be heading back to Lubbock after all these years?

In the recent episode of ESPN’s CFB Week 10 REACTIONS, Steve Coughlin just made it official that College GameDay is coming to Lubbock in week 11.“And now we’re going to Lubbock, Texas next week for BYU at Texas Tech. And I cannot wait. Like, bring the tortillas! Steve said. That was all the confirmation the Red Raiders fans needed to see in that moment. ESPN’s flagship pregame show is finally returning to town after a 17-year drought.

The odds of GameDay being in Lubbock for BYU-Texas Tech were sitting at a whopping 80%. Now, it’s 100% confirmed. The tweet from the official College Gameday account gained a massive 1.4 million views. “TEXAS TECH, ARE YOU READY?! Next up, we’re headed to Lubbock for a Big 12 showdown between @BYUfootball and @TexasTechFB ‼️” While the team has been featured four times, three of those appearances were as visitors. The 2008 season was the only time the Red Raiders hosted the ESPN crew.

Steve Coughlin still remembered the last time GameDay visited Texas Tech, saying, “Bob Knight was on that show that day. They rushed the field five times.” The memory is still pretty alive in his voice. It was one of the craziest nights in sports history. No. 6 Texas Tech shocked No. 1 Texas 39–33 on November 1, 2008.

Red Raiders Michael Crabtree’s last-second, toe-tapping score and Graham Harrell’s 474-yard, two-touchdown effort sealed it. Before the game was even officially over, a wave of red flooded the field. Texas Tech ended up “kicking off from the five-yard line..They rushed the field that many times,” as Steve recalls. The GameDay team is now returning to Jones AT&T Stadium for the first time since that incredible night.

Scott said, “That’s a rubber stamp invite from Stanford Steve,” following the Red Raiders’ decisive 43–20 victory against Kansas State. Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, and Pat McAfee will all be present in the Hub City for a three-hour Saturday morning celebration that promises to be both an emotional homecoming and a football dissection. But can we see the 3x Super Bowl champion coming back home?

GameDay’s Lubbock return can bring Patrick Mahomes back home

Before the news became official, Kirk Herbstreit had dropped one of those sneaky hints that make college football fans go into detective mode. The ESPN commentator made a subtle statement about Lubbock and Patrick Mahomes’ being there, “We don’t generally cheer for teams. We cheer for our picks,” Herbstreit said. Then came the news, “If we could go to Lubbock, Mahomes is off, maybe he’s there at the show.” That shocker lit up Texas Tech fans’ faces.

Herbstreit kept on building a perfect scene for the next week. He asked, “How much excitement would that be with a big showdown with BYU?” “So what I’m saying is, when Kansas State wins this game, it’s just the football gods. It’s not our fault. We wanna go to Lubbock.” With the Chiefs on a bye week during that stretch, Mahomes being available as a guest picker on GameDay in his old stomping grounds is exactly the star power ESPN dreams about.

At the time, the Super Bowl champion coming back to his college town for a massive Big 12 matchup gained a massive nod from the bookmakers. The only thing that remains is whether Mahomes, during his bye week, will join and lead a Lubbock homecoming.