Alabama will be making its 40th appearance on ESPN's College Gameday on Saturday, but it will be a former UAB quarterback making the guest picks on the show.

The network announced on Friday that country musician Sam Hunt, who played two seasons for the Blazers, would be the featured guest in Atlanta ahead of the Alabama-Florida State matchup.

It began on Friday evening when ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit asked Hunt if he'd be available to join.

It appears this was a scripted way to promote the guest picker because Hunt, a guy that had only tweeted one other time in August, replied within minutes with a nice Gameday graphic.

It's not the first country musician to pick an Alabama game. Two years ago, Eric Church showed up in Tuscaloosa for the Ole Miss game.

If you're wondering why Hunt was considered, it's likely to help celebrate the return of the UAB football program. The country star will be performing a free concert in Birmingham on Friday night that anticipates a crowd of 25,000.

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