College GameDay guest picker: Who is it for Penn State-Ohio State?
ESPN College GameDay will broadcast live from State College before No. 3 Penn State hosts No. 4 Ohio State at Beaver Stadium. Set construction for the famed and long-running Saturday morning college football pregame show started Thursday, with live hits taking place on location Friday between Dauer Drive and the Bryce Jordan Center before ‘GameDay’ airs on Saturday morning. There will be a mixture of indoor and outdoor segments before kickoff, and the television program’s cast will ultimately wind up inside the 107,000-seat venue next door for its final hour.
Each week, the final 60 minutes of the broadcast concludes with a 10–to-15 minutes picks and predictions segment. Host Rece Davis and analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee, Lee Corso, and Desmond Howard will each make a selection for every top 25 game, including the one in Happy Valley, of course. A celebrity guest picker will join them, as well.
Past GameDay broadcasts at Penn State have featured star former running back Ki-Jana Carter, Good Morning America anchor and PSU alum Lara Spencer, actor Keegan Michael-Key, Trace McSorley, and Saquon Barkley filling the guest picker role. There were many guesses across the Internet about who this year’s celebrity choice could be. Pat Freiermuth and Joey Porter Jr., of the Steelers, and Ji’Ayir Brown and Kevin Givens of the 49ers are all on byes this week, making them possibilities. Former Eagle Jason Kelce, while not a Penn State graduate, is a major Pennsylvania celebrity, of course, and raised eyebrows when he teased his first trip to State College earlier this week. In addition to them, it goes without saying that the nation’s largest alumni network boasts plenty of personalities to pick from.
Who is the ESPN College GameDay celebrity guest picker before Penn State-Ohio State?
The answer is Keegan Michael-Key will be the guest picker again. ESPN made the announcement on Thursday. According to Cole’s Game Day blog, Michael-Key is 24-13 all-time as the show’s celebrity guest picker. This will mark his fourth time filling that role, second only to Charles Barkley’s six all-time appearances.
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Kickoff is set for Noon ET
FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff show is also broadcasting live from campus and inside of the stadium on Saturday before the game. The Buckeyes are a 3.5-point favorite, and both sides are dealing with key injury questions before kickoff. Those make the game hard to predict, as Ohio State has major uncertainty along its offensive line while Penn State will potentially have potential backups playing at quarterback, right tackle, and defensive end.
“We just stay consistent with our process,” Lions coach James Frankklin said. “Is there a lot more noise? Outside. Do we start getting questions like your questions? Yes. Like I said today at the Quarterback Club: West Virginia, to open the season was a big game. Bowling Green was a big game. If you don’t think it was, lose to Bowling Green and see how people react.
“They’re all big games. This is a big game because of how we’ve handled the previous [seven]. So we don’t change our process. I can’t control the noise and the things that are outside this building. But we stay consistent with how we go about our business, and I can’t control the other things.”
