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I would say our worst fears have been realized, but I honestly never expected I needed to be scared of this. South Carolina, selected to host College Gameday, decided to go out and find someone with no attachment whatsoever to sit as guest picker on the show. Instead of showing the great heights to which Carolina graduates soar after graduating, we'll celebrate a man who sing extremely lazy songs about a lifestyle he doesn't lead laced with faux nostalgia. Joy.
This would be one thing if Gameday regularly shoved widely known celebrities into this role, without any consideration of the university. Instead, an excerpted list of choices from past Gameday shows reveals that the host university nearly always selects someone that represents the university itself, albeit typically someone who also resonates with more than just the local fanbase:
School | Picker | Affiliation |
Oregon | The Duck | Mascot |
Auburn | Charles Barkley | Former AU basketball player |
Oklahoma State | Marcus Smart | Current OSU basketball player |
Georgia | Bubba Watson | Former UGA golf player |
LSU | Lori Jones | Former LSU track and field star |
South Carolina | Darius Rucker | Famous musician/alum |
North Dakota | Brock Jensen | Former NDSU quarterback |
Boston College | Matt Ryan | Former BC quarterback |
Northwestern | Brent Musberger | Famous alum / broadcaster |
Texas A&M | Lyle Lovett | Famous musician/alum |
Air Force | Scott Thomas | Former AFA strong safety |
Florida | Ryan Lochte | Former swimmer/alum |
Clemson | Bill Murray | SC resident / amazing human |
Kansas State | Eric Stonestreet | Actor / KSU alum |
Tennessee | Kenny Chesney | A Tennessee fan |
You saw that right - Chesney's done this before, you know, at the school where he's an avowed fan, the school where he wrote a song about the former broadcaster - SEC East rival Tennessee.
What follows is a short list of superior choices to Kenny Chesney for guest picker:
- Marcus Lattimore
- Stephen Colbert
- Darius Rucker
- Patrick Davis
- Dinobrite
- Darude
- Jackie Bradley, Jr.
- Sidney Rice
- Sterling Sharpe
- George Rogers
- Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
- Darla Moore
- You, so long as you are not Kenny Chesney