Who will be “College GameDay’s” celebrity guest picker when the ESPN college football traveling road show hits campus? The top brass at ESPN is already brainstorming and making some preliminary calls. Their goal: Have the picker locked down by Thursday.
I have my own ideas about who it should be. (See No. 9.)
We already know that CGD — as the insiders call it — is coming to Penn State for the 11th time, and the second season in a row. Overall, it will be CGD’s 26th time at a Penn State game, home and away, including two unofficial appearances.
The Saturday morning pre-game show, hosted by Rece Davis and featuring Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee and Desmond Howard, will broadcast live from 9 a.m. to noon. Then, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, NBC will broadcast No. 3 Penn State (3-0) against No. 6 Oregon in a White Out in Beaver Stadium.
On to the good stuff: Here’s my weekly Top 10 list, with a focus on “GameDay” and potential guest pickers. (Remember to follow me on X/Twitter and Instagram for more Penn State football news and videos throughout the week and on game day).
THE CGD TOP 10
1. PSU, CFB and ESPN. After a new multi-billion-dollar round of contracts across the broadcast industry and college athletics power brokers, ESPN these days does not broadcast any regular season Penn State — or Big Ten Conference — college football games. But Penn State is still represented. PSU alum Amanda Gifford Lockwood is senior vice president of production for ESPN, the highest-ranking Penn Stater at the network. As such, she oversees event and studio productions for college football. That includes all of ESPN’s college football games, “College GameDay,” College Football Playoff games and the studio shows. She also had a strong hand in selecting and recruiting CGD’s weekly guest pickers.
2. CGD is a classy show. “College GameDay” and its reporter at the time, Gene Wojociechowski, came to my Penn State class, back in 2021, as part of its profile of White Out creator Guido D’Elia and the origin of the phenomena. A question on a class quiz a few weeks later: “Who said, ‘If football had a heaven, it would be football heaven.’” (Answer: Noah Cain.) Watch the feature here.
3. Penn State is .500 when CGD comes to campus (5-5). The tally: 1999 – W, Arizona, 41-7; 2005 – W, Ohio State, 17-10; 2007 – L, Ohio State, 37-17; 2009 – L, Iowa, 21-10; 2017 – W, Michigan, 42-13; 2018 – L, Ohio State, 27-26; 2019 – W, Michigan, 28-21; 2020 – L, Ohio State, 38-25; 2021, W, Auburn, 28-20; 2024 – L, Ohio State, 20-13.
4. Past pickers for CGD when at Penn State — all of whom are alumni: Keegan-Michael Key (twice), Saquon Barkley, Ki-Jana Carter, Trace McSorley and Lara Spencer.
5. The picker on Saturday won’t be one of these guys who have games of their own. 5a. On the college side, former Nittany Lion quarterback Beau Pribula is not available. He portaled to Missouri during the playoffs last December, and he now has the 4-0 Tigers ranked No. 20 in the country. Pribula and Mizzou will be hosting UMass Saturday night on ESPNU. He is 84 of 116 (72.4%) for 962 yards, with eight touchdown passes and two interceptions. He’s run 34 times for 148 yards (4.4 ypc), with three TDs.
5b. These popular Penn Staters in the NFL have games next Sunday: Saquon Barkley, Eagles (at Tampa Bay); Tyler Warren, Colts (at L.A. Rams); Abdul Carter, New York Giants (hosting L.A. Chargers); and Micah Parsons, Packers (at Dallas..oh, buy!).
6. The dark Knight also will not be CGD set rising. Phil Knight is planning to attend the White Out. Good guy, but he won’t be picking. Oregon guy. Nike guy.
7. “Untouchable” picker. That would be Taylor Swift…a Pennsylvania girl with a Penn State heart? Born in West Reading, grew up in Wyomissing. If the Nittany Lions were hosting the University of Cincinnati, then we might get Taylor’s version of CGD picks.
8. How about double pickers — guests that have Penn State AND Oregon ties? 8a.) There’s Phil Dunphy from Modern Family (an ABC show, part of the ESPN Disney family), aka Ty Burrell, who has his MFA from Penn State. Burrell first went to the University of Oregon as an undergrad, before graduating with a bachelor’s from Southern Oregon University.
8b. And there’s Juwan and Chan Johnson. Juwan played for Penn State from 2015-18 (81 receptions, 1,123 yards). Then after graduating with his degree he transferred to Oregon for the 2019 season (30-467). He’s been a tight end with the New Orleans Saints since 2020. (The Saints are at Buffalo next Sunday.) His wife, Chanen Raygoza-Johnson, is also a Penn State grad and a former PSU gymnast. They have 3.2 million followers on TikTok as Ju & Chan.
9. Here is my Top 10 list for celebrity pickers on “College GameDay” (all alum): 1.) Cael Sanderson, college sports coaching GOAT. 2.) Katie Schumacher-Cawley, national champ, life champ, ESPYs Jimmy V recipient. 3.) Pommel Horse Guy, Stephen Nedoroscik. He can dance, too. 4.) Erin Dolan, ESPN betting GOAT. 5.) Katie Feeney, ESPN social media GOAT. 6.) Sue Paterno, Penn State GOAT. 7.) Kerry Collins, 1994 season and Rose Bowl win over Oregon QB GOAT. 8.) Lisa Salters, NFL/NBA sideline reporter GOAT. 9.) John Cappelletti, Penn State’s only Heisman Trophy GOAT (1973). 10.) 6. Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D., the pro wrestling dental GOAT.
10. Also receiving guest picker votes are PSU alum: Carmen Finestra, writer/producer on “Home Improvement” and “The Cosby Show”; Landon Tengwall, former Nittany Lion football player-turned-analyst/social media star; Adam McKay of “Anchorman” and “Step Brothers,” who went to PSU for a year; Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated, FOX and MLB Network; and Andrew Kevin Walker, who wrote “Se7en.”
