ESPN’s College Gameday is coming to Knoxville this weekend as the college football world descends on Knoxville for Tennessee football’s rivalry showdown with Georgia inside Neyland Stadium. One special Tennessee related guest will on the Ayres Hall lawn for the show.
Candace Parker is the celebrity guest picker for College Gameday’s week three show in Knoxville. Parker is a legendary former Lady Vol basketball star, helping lead Tennessee to its last two national championships in 2007 and 2008.
After a storied college career where she earned All-American honors multiple times, Parker had a historic professional career, winning three WNBA Championships.
It’s College Gameday’s first trip to Knoxville since 2022 when ESPN’s premier college football pregame show came to town for Tennessee’s rivalry wins over Alabama and Florida. Peyton Manning was the guest picker for the Alabama game and WWE star and Tennessee alum Bianca Belair was the guest picker for the Georgia game that season.
There were a number of strong options for the College Gameday guest picker this time around including Tramell Tillman and Tony Vitello who could end up getting a call if ESPN returns for Tennessee’s late October showdown against Oklahoma at Neyland Stadium.
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While College Gameday hasn’t been to Knoxville since 2022, they did go to three different Tennessee games last season. Gameday was in Norman for the Vols’ win over Oklahoma and was in Athens and Columbus for Tennessee’s losses against Georgia and Ohio State, respectively.
No. 15 Tennessee is looking to make a major early season statement as they face sixth-ranked Georgia. Both teams are unbeaten through two weeks but have faced minimal competition ahead of each’s SEC opener this week.
Georgia has won eight straight games in the series dating back to Kirby Smart’s first season in Athens. But there’s belief that this is the season Tennessee turns the tide in the rivalry. Georgia quarterback Gunnar Stockton is making his first career road start and has looked pedestrian in the Bulldogs’ wins over Marshall and Austin Peay to begin the season.
The Bulldogs opened as seven-point favorites over Tennessee according to the DraftKings Sportsbook but that line is down to 3.5 points two days away from kickoff.
Kickoff between Tennessee and Georgia is at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe are on the call for ABC.
