The ESPN College GameDay crew is headed to Austin, Texas to take in an epic SEC matchup between the Texas Longhorns and Georgia Bulldogs.
Texas and Georgia are both top five teams in the country and, barring a collapse, will both be in the 12-team College Football Playoff – making this one of the best regular season games of the season.
GameDay has been to Austin nine previous times, although the Longhorns have not won while Gameday was in town since 2009, when they defeated Texas Tech.
There is no shortage of celebrities with ties to the University of Texas, and below is a look at just some of the many candidates to join the GameDay crew on Saturday in Austin:
Previous guest pickers in Austin
Although it’s not unprecedented to bring back the same celebrity guest picker, with so many different options to represent the Longhorns it does seem unlikely we will see any of the three previous celebrities this weekend.
That would rule out Lance Armstrong, who was the picker back in 2009 when Texas beat Texas Tech, as well as more recent options: Actor Matthew McConaughey (2019 in a Texas loss to LSU), actor Glen Powell (2022 in a loss to Alabama) and golf champion Jordan Spieth (2022 in a loss to TCU).
Former Texas athletes
There are plenty of ‘obvious’ choices the GameDay crew could pick, but former Longhorns quarterback Vince Young feels like the most obvious of those candidates. Young was the star of Texas’ most recent national championship, and with the Longhorns in a great spot to win another, bringing him back is the perfect choice.
Another former Texas quarterback – Colt McCoy – is a strong candidate as well after hanging up his cleats following a 13-year NFL career. McCoy covers the Big Ten for NBC, however, making this a bit tricker to pull off.
The Phoenix Suns have preseason games on Thursday, October 17th and again the following Wednesday the 23rd, which gives NBA superstar and former Longhorn Kevin Durant plenty of time to make his way to Austin. Durant and Phoenix are playing San Antonio at the Moody Center this season, so a return to campus this month makes plenty of sense.
Bringing back legends from a previous era is a staple of College GameDay, and the great Earl Campbell would be an awesome selection. The first Longhorn to win the Heisman, Campbell is a true icon and a fantastic choice for GameDay.
Other Options
Actors have been a prominent part of GameDay’s history, including last week when Kaitlin Olson represented the University of Oregon – while promoting her new show High Potential. Could ESPN do the same thing this week with alumni Jon Hamm – who has a new show Landman he’d certainly like to promote?
Renee Zellweger went to Texas and earned a degree in English Literature, crediting the school with getting her interested in acting. The star actress – who broke through with her performance in football movie Jerry Maguire – could be a fun candidate if ESPN wanted to go with back-to-back actresses.
Or how about a musician? Reba McEntire, the Queen of Country, may be from Oklahoma, but she’s shown love for the Longhorns in the past and would bring some charm and fun to the GameDay crew.