On Thursday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show, ESPN College Football analyst Kirk Herbstreit teased who will be the celebrity guest picker for Saturday’s episode of College GameDay.
The show travels to a different college campus each week based on who is hosting a big-time game. It creates a massive buzz in and around the school as students line up early in the morning to help create a raucous environment. The final segment each week is based on predictions for that day’s slate of games, and a celebrity—often an alum or someone associated with the university—slides in to help pick every one.
This week, the show heads to Austin, Texas, where, later on Saturday evening, the top-ranked Texas Longhorns will welcome the fourth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs into Darrel K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. It’s a massive game, as Saturday will mark the first time these two juggernauts will face off in conference play. Texas and Oklahoma officially joined the SEC this past summer.
“Who do we have this week? A golfer, right?” Herbstreit said on The Pat McAfee Show.
“[Sir Nick] Faldo is coming back!?” added producer Ty Schmit.
“It’s NOT Faldo,” cried McAfee.
“[Jordan] Spieth!?” asked another voice.
“I think it’s Scottie Scheffler,” Herbstreit finally revealed.
“REALLY!?” McAfee and his co-producers said in unison.
“Wow! That’s great!”
Two years ago, when Texas hosted top-ranked Alabama in a non-conference showdown, ESPN invited Scheffler, a Texas alum, to join the set on GameDay. To his surprise, his college coach from Texas, John Fields, delivered Scheffler with the Jack Nicklaus Award, given to the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year, while on set.
“That’s pretty cool,” Scheffler said while becoming emotional in September 2022.
“I don’t have much to say. I definitely was not expecting that. But it means a lot to me.”
Given the precedence already set, could we see a similar episode play out on Saturday?
After all, Scheffler won the 2022 Jack Nicklaus Award after winning the Masters and four tournaments overall. He took home the honors last year, too.
This year, Scheffler went on an otherworldly tear, drawing comparisons to Tiger Woods. He won on tour seven times, not including his gold medal triumph at the Olympics. He captured another Green Jacket, too. The former Texas Longhorn will no doubt win the Jack Nicklaus Award for a third straight season, even though Xander Schauffele claimed a pair of major titles.
So now, the question is, will Scheffler receive the award again on set? Or will his coronation as Player of the Year occur on another date?
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
