‘College GameDay’: Early odds favor Darius Rucker as celebrity guest picker for USC-UNC
ESPN’s “College GameDay” will broadcast live from Charlotte for the South Carolina-North Carolina season opener, the network announced Monday. The odds makers are already taking guesses as to who the show’s celebrity guest picker will be.
The guest picker is often one of the most talked about elements of the three-hour show. Current odds from BetCarolina favor avid Gamecock fan and Charleston native Darius Rucker to fill that role Week 1.
The music artist, who sang lead for Hootie & the Blowfish before pursuing a solo career, sits at +500 hypothetical odds with a 16.7% chance of appearing on the show, according to BetCarolina. Behind him is Charlotte resident and retired NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. with a 14.3% chance and +600 hypothetical odds.
Legendary UNC men’s basketball coach Roy Williams and former Tar Heel football player Jeff Saturday round out the top three, tied at +700 hypothetical odds with a 12.5% chance of sitting at the desk.
South Carolina alum Stephen Colbert (+900, 10%) and UNC royalty Michael Jordan (+1000, 9.1%) also made BetCarolina’s list.
The show’s guest picker predicts the winners of select games along with the cast of ESPN personalities.
Tennessee great Peyton Manning, Oregon women’s basketball alum Sabrina Ionescu, Texas golf alum Jordan Spieth, actor and Kansas alum Rob Riggle and North Carolina native and country star Luke Combs were among last year’s guest pickers. Sometimes there’s a connection to one of the schools playing at the site of the show, and sometimes there’s not.
The last time USC actually hosted “College GameDay” in Columbia was 2014, with country music star Kenny Chesney as the guest picker.
This story was originally published July 25, 2023 at 3:37 PM.
