The Group Chat: Get up, it’s gameday

College GameDay, ESPN’s beloved traveling pregame show, is a deeply ingrained part of college football culture. Like the sport itself, College GameDay is defined by traditions, from the hilarious fan signs to field goal kicks for cash to commentator Kirk Herbstreit’s golden retriever. One of our favorite segments? The celebrity guest picker.

• The show films on the campus that’s hosting the week’s biggest matchup, and a famous alum or fan of the school joins the pundits to predict outcomes of games across the league. It’s wildly fun, but unfortunately, women guest pickers are rare — only 14 have appeared in the past decade, and only one woman has done it twice (shoutout Sabrina Ionescu).

• This season started strong with country singer Lainey Wilson for Week 1 (the show’s 500th edition, BTW), so we decided to create our dream slate of celebrity guest pickers for the rest of the season — and surprise, surprise, it’s all women.

WEEK 2: 🌰 Ohio State Buckeyes at 🤘 Texas Longhorns in Austin, TX

Texas’ football team isn’t the only title contender on campus — this heavyweight battle is the perfect opportunity to spotlight the Longhorns’ unbelievably talented women’s basketball team. A successful guest picker needs to have elite ball IQ and a sense of humor, so this guest picker could only be women’s hoops Player of the Year candidate Madison Booker. Slam dunk.

WEEK 5: 🐺 Washington Huskies at ⚔️ USC Trojans in Los Angeles, CA

College hoopers are a no-brainer for College GameDay appearances — they’re closely associated with their schools and already on campus, after all. But if we could bring on pro women’s hoopers, there’s no better campus to do it on than USC. Hall of Famers Cynthia Cooper, Cheryl Miller, and Lisa Leslie all played there — and we know Miller bleeds cardinal and gold.

WEEK 6: 🤘 Texas Longhorns at 🔜 Oklahoma Sooners in Dallas, TX

This game will be at a neutral site, but the Sooners are the “home team,” so the guest picker will be from OU’s side. The Sooners are often thought of as a football school…but everyone knows it’s actually a softball school. In her 31 years at the helm, head coach Patty Gasso has led Oklahoma softball to unparalleled domination. Her win rate at OU is an astounding 81.3% — bet she could match that with her College GameDay picks.

WEEK 8: ♥️ Texas A&M Aggies at 🌊 Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, AL

Time to run it back with one of the best celebrity pickers in the show’s history: Miss Terry, wife of Alabama coaching legend and College GameDay commentator Nick Saban. Okay, she’s not technically an Alabama alum, but we simply need to see her return to the show and best her husband again. When she appeared in 2024, he picked six of 10 games right, and she got seven.

WEEK 10: 🌀 Miami Hurricanes at ☘️ Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend, IN

Notre Dame is another women’s basketball powerhouse that happens to field a pretty good football team, offering a long roster of famous alum to choose from. But given the context, we think Dallas Wings sharpshooter Arike Ogunbowale would be perfect — not only is she a living legend on campus, but her brother Dare plays in the NFL, so she likely has top-tier gridiron insights.

WEEK 13: 〽️ Michigan Wolverines at 🌰 Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, OH

Only the best will do for The Game. It’s the regular-season finale, so we demand that College GameDay make an exception to their home-team rule and bring on Michigan alum Madonna. No explanation needed.