The Bucs’ 53-man roster isn’t just a football team right now - it’s a college football map with helmets scattered all over it.
Tampa Bay finished its cuts and moved from 90 players to 53 before the Week 1 opener in Cincinnati on Sept. 13, and the final group carries some serious Saturday flavor. Thirteen different conferences are represented, along with an independent from Division I FBS, Division I FCS and Division II. In all, the roster includes players from 40 college programs.
Washington still has a strong footprint in the locker room, even after Greg Gaines was not re-signed and Devin Culp and Jake Browning were cut. Vita Vea, Cade Otton and Jalen McMillan keep the Huskies well represented. But the biggest college pipeline on the roster now belongs to Miami, thanks to three newcomers: veteran outside linebacker Al-Quadin Muhammad, first-round outside linebacker Rueben Bain Jr. and fourth-round safety Keionte Scott.
Oregon is right there, too, with Bucky Irving and Tez Johnson giving the Ducks a two-man presence. The same goes for Minnesota, where Antoine Winfield Jr. and Ko Kieft share bragging rights, and Iowa, where Tristan Wirfs and Anthony Nelson hold down the line.
There are more familiar college pairings around the room. Calijah Kancey and SirVocea Dennis are still the Pitt duo, Graham Barton and Evan Deckers remain Duke Blue Devils together, Sean Tucker and Riley Dixon are the Syracuse connection, and Dan Feeney and Luke Haggard can claim Indiana - the reigning national champion. Kansas State has two representatives in Jacob Parrish and Josh Hayes, though Hayes is currently on injured reserve.
A few pairings are brand new. Ben Chukwuma was the only Georgia State player on the roster last year, and now Ted Hurst III joins him. Benjamin Morrison used to be the lone Notre Dame name in the building, but Billy Schrauth has now joined that group.
And if you’re looking for the most obscure college on the list, that title still belongs to Barton College, home of wide receiver/return man Kameron Johnson.
The college angle gets even more fun when you look at the title race. Hard Rock Bet’s national championship odds had Ohio State, and Emeka Egbuka’s Buckeyes, on top at +550 as of Monday night. Notre Dame, with Morrison and Schrauth, was next at +650, followed by Oregon at +750.
Georgia, Tykee Smith’s team, sits at +850, the same number as Indiana. Miami, with Muhammad, Bain Jr. and Scott, came in at +1100 after finishing as last year’s runner-up.
Farther down the board, LSU - Bauer Sharp’s team - is listed at +2000. Alabama, where A’Shawn Robinson played, is at +2500, and Baker Mayfield’s Oklahoma Sooners are at +3000.
There’s even a little schedule overlap between Tampa Bay Sundays and college Saturdays. Kansas State, with Parrish and Hayes, will face Kansas and Jalon Daniels on Oct. 17, the day before the Bucs host the Steelers. LSU and Alabama meet on Nov. 7, the day before Tampa Bay plays the Bears in Chicago on Sunday Night Football.
Rivalry Weekend will have plenty of eyes in the Bucs locker room, too. Oregon and Irving and Johnson will go against Washington, where Vea, Otton and McMillan play, on Nov. 28, two days before Tampa Bay hosts the Panthers on Monday Night Football. Ohio State, Egbuka’s team, also plays Michigan and Ben Bredeson on that same date.
Mayfield has his own big rivalry date circled. Oklahoma plays Texas in the Red River Rivalry on Oct. 10 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, and the Bucs are in Arlington against the Cowboys two days earlier on Thursday Night Football. Mayfield could even show up again as the guest picker on ESPN’s College GameDay after doing it before the 2023 game.
It would be a little different without the retired Lee Corso and his headgear pick, but the spotlight would still fit Mayfield just fine.
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