Whenever the news comes out that ESPN’s College GameDay broadcast is heading to a particular program, speculation runs wild about which celebrity or former athlete will return to their roots and be the guest picker on the closing segment of the hit Saturday morning TV show.
That’s no different this time around as Tennessee prepares to host Georgia in Neyland Stadium this weekend.
On Sunday, Rocky Top Insider’s Ryan Schumpert took a look at a handful of potential options for the Tennessee-associated guest picker for the College GameDay broadcast. He put together a good list featuring names such as actor Tramell Tillman and music icon Dolly Parton, which you can find here.
But there’s one particular name that people are going to be quick to point out, but has a complicated weekend schedule that might make things impossible. That would be East Tennessee native and UT superfan Morgan Wallen.
Wallen, a native of Sneedville, TN, has been seen around Tennessee Athletics for quite some time now. He sat side next to Josh Heupel, Rick Barnes, and Peyton Manning during Tennessee Baseball’s National Championship victory over Texas A&M in 2024. He’s also been seen watching the Vols’ basketball team at the SEC Tournament in Nashville, and currently is the fourth-quarter intro song for Tennessee football home games. Wallen also brought his music tour to Neyland Stadium for two nights during the 2024 football season, with walkouts featuring UT Baseball and UT Football.
Wallen is an obvious candidate to be the guest picker, but he may not be a likely one with a scheduling conflict. According to his official website, Wallen’s “I’m The Problem” tour has shows in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on Sept. 12 and 13. That’s the Friday night before and the Saturday night of the Vols’ game against Georgia.
If his tour was somewhere in the southern region of the United States, say Atlanta or Nashville, it might be a much easier task to hop on a private jet and make a quick stop in Knoxville. But considering the distance of 2,000+ miles between Knoxville and Edmonton, it doesn’t seem likely.
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There are a number of candidates that ESPN could realistically choose from for the show this Saturday. Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning doesn’t seem like a likely pick, either, considering he was the guest picker when GameDay was in town for the Alabama game during the 2022 season. But, hey, it’s Peyton Manning. Nothing is out of the question with him.
For more ideas on who the Vols’ guest picker could be this weekend, check out Ryan Schumpert’s six candidates for the choice here.
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