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With Kenny Chesney on Gameday, Gamecocks buck tradition of guest picker remotely related to school

Given the lengthy list of South Carolinians and others affiliated with the university, South Carolina missed an opportunity to showcase the university on Saturday morning, instead showcasing very bad "country" "music."

Chris Fowler will have to explain to fans why this choice was made.
Chris Fowler will have to explain to fans why this choice was made.
Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports

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 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