Ranking the 10 Biggest Names to Be ‘College GameDay’ Celebrity Guest Picker

ESPN’s College GameDay made waves Friday when they announced Patrick Mahomes would appear on the show Saturday as a celebrity guest picker in Lubbock, Texas as his alma mater Texas Tech takes on undefeated BYU.

It’s the perfect scenario as Mahomes’s 5-4 Chiefs are enjoying their bye week as Texas Tech hosts the GameDay crew ahead of their Big 12 showdown. The three-time Super Bowl MVP joins a long list of celebrities to appear as a guest picker from athletes across all sports, to musicians, actors and all the biggest stars in between.

Mahomes played three seasons for the Red Raiders from 2014 to ‘16, throwing for 11,252 yards, 93 touchdowns and 29 interceptions in 32 games before he was drafted by the Chiefs with the No. 10 pick in the ‘17 NFL draft. The rest is history as he quickly ascended to stardom in the form of three Super Bowls, two NFL MVP awards and a 10-year, $450 million contract signed in ‘20. He’s certainly one of the bigger stars to make some picks on national television, which begs the question: Who are the most famous celebrities GameDay has tapped as a guest picker?

What follows is 10 of the biggest names we have seen on College GameDay over the years, ranked from top to bottom:

The NBA’s all-time leading scorer was a guest picker on College GameDay in his native Ohio back in 2008 when Ohio State took on Penn State. Of course, James picked the Buckeyes and endeared himself to the fans by saying he would have loved to wear the scarlet and gray if he played college basketball. He hadn’t even won his first NBA MVP award when he made his sole appearance as a GameDay picker. Should he make another appearance, Columbus would be an even bigger scene.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson surprised Deion Sanders on the GameDay set in 2023 ahead of Colorado’s game against Colorado State. He had an awesome entrance and went an impressive 8-2 with his picks, according to Cole’s GameDay Blog.

How about the most decorated Olympian of all time?

Phelps was another big name ESPN brought in as a guest picker. He joined the GameDay crew last September for Michigan’s clash with Texas in Ann Arbor. His coach Bob Bowman was the Wolverines’ swimming coach from 2005 to ‘08 and Phelps trained with Bowman and attended classes in Ann Arbor in a span of four years following the ‘04 Olympics. The 23-time gold medalist also served as a volunteer coach in his four years spent at Michigan.

Pop star Katy Perry made an unforgettable College GameDay appearance in 2014 as Ole Miss took on Alabama. The Ole Miss connection comes from her mentor and manager, while the appearance happened to be her first ever college football game. You wouldn’t have known that, though, as she went 7-2 on her picks and correctly called the Rebels’ victory over the Crimson Tide.

The comedian and actor made his showing on the GameDay desk in 2010 as his alma mater USC took on Oregon. Lee Corso pulled a hilarious move on Ferrell where he gave him a mascot head of his own face to distract him from the fact he planned to pick the Ducks. Unfortunately for Ferrell, Corso was right as Oregon took down USC on the road and the actor went an even 5-5 on his picks. He’s had some additional memorable moments in the spotlight at USC, including his funny DJ set at his son’s fraternity party in ‘23.

Chalamet made his memorable appearance on GameDay last season and fans were quickly blown away by his immense ball knowledge. He was the only analyst to correctly predict Ohio’s MAC championship and his deep research leading up to the appearance shined through. The two-time Academy Award nominee has quickly turned into the celebrity superfan of his generation.

Rodriguez’s most recent GameDay appearance isn’t as memorable since he was on the screen over a video call in 2020. That was for a Miami-Clemson game as the three-time American League MVP signed a letter of intent to play baseball for the Hurricanes. He was even recruited to play quarterback for Miami’s football team, too. That didn’t happen as he signed with the Mariners after he was selected first in the 1993 MLB draft.

The Cowboys owner and general manager picked in front of his own stadium ahead of the Cowboys Kickoff Classic between Alabama and Michigan in 2012. He picked correctly and predicted the Crimson Tide’s dominant 41-14 win. Jones made six of seven correct picks in quite the impressive showing.

The North Carolina coach, who definitely isn’t better known for anything else, made an appearance as a guest picker for the Army vs. Navy game in 2023. Belichick’s father Steve coached at Navy for 34 years where the legendary Patriots coach developed his coaching chops. Of course, Belichick took Navy to beat Army and even brought his own headgear in the form of a 1962 Navy helmet. Unfortunately, the Midshipmen were defeated by Army which has left Belichick as the only guest picker without a win as he left his sole appearance 0-1. At least he has six Super Bowls to soften the blow.

The two-time Masters champion wore his green jacket as College GameDay’s guest picker last year in Austin when his alma mater Texas took on Georgia. Scheffler went an impressive 7-3 in his appearance, according to Cole’s GameDay Blog, but he lost the one he wanted most as the Bulldogs defeated the Longhorns.

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