As if No. 1 Texas vs. No. 14 Tennessee needed another storyline.
President Donald Trump is expected to attend Saturday’s massive SEC showdown at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. A White House official confirmed Trump’s planned attendance to USA TODAY on Wednesday.
And then the internet did what the internet does.
Within hours, reports and social posts began circulating that Trump had also been selected as the celebrity guest picker on ESPN College GameDay.
There is just one fairly important problem:
ESPN hasn’t confirmed that.
At least not yet.
ESPN declined to confirm whether Trump will appear on GameDay, while Tennessee’s detailed rundown of Saturday’s ESPN programming does not identify the celebrity guest picker.
So for now:
Trump at Texas–Tennessee: Yes.
Trump sitting next to Nick Saban making picks: TBD.
And, frankly, the setup couldn’t be much more interesting.
Before Saturday: Check the Texas–Tennessee Market
Texas–Tennessee is one of the biggest games on the Week 4 board, and the market will almost certainly be worth watching all the way to kickoff.
CLEATZ is tracking the latest spreads, moneylines and totals on our College Football Lines page.
Even more interesting might be where the crowd lands. Our College Football Public Betting tracker shows where the tickets and money are accumulating across the biggest games on the board.
Translation: while America debates whether Trump is picking the Vols or Longhorns, we can at least see who everybody else is picking.
College GameDay Is Literally Moving Inside Neyland
Here is where the conspiracy-board string starts connecting.
College GameDay will broadcast its first two hours from Ayres Hall from 9–11 a.m. ET before moving the final hour inside Neyland Stadium from 11 a.m. to noon, immediately ahead of the Texas-Tennessee kickoff on ABC.
Trump will also be at Neyland Stadium.
The guest-picker portion of GameDay traditionally comes near the end of the show.
You can see why college football Twitter has put approximately 47 detectives on the case.
Coincidence?
Possibly.
Convenient?
Very.
Secret Service has entered the tailgate chat.
The Nick Saban Angle
The Old Row Sports post circulating Wednesday went considerably further, claiming Trump had already been selected as the guest picker and that Nick Saban pushed for the decision because of his relationship with Trump.
That portion of the report has not been independently confirmed.
What is confirmed is that Saban will be at the GameDay desk alongside Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee.
Whether Saban actually lobbied ESPN to put Trump in the picker chair is another matter.
For now, put that one firmly in the “internet says so” column rather than the “CLEATZ is betting the mortgage on it” column.
Imagine the Picks Segment
There is also the small matter of what happens if ESPN actually does it.
Donald Trump.
Nick Saban.
Pat McAfee.
Kirk Herbstreit.
More than 100,000 people packed into Neyland Stadium.
No. 1 Texas.
No. 14 Tennessee.
Arch Manning quarterbacking Texas in Knoxville.
And Trump being asked to choose a winner while surrounded by orange.
That’s less a college football picks segment and more a televised hostage negotiation.
Pick Tennessee and Neyland erupts.
Pick Texas and ESPN may want to proceed directly to kickoff.
For those looking for picks that involve slightly less geopolitical risk, the CLEATZ College Football Picks page will be tracking the Week 4 card.
This Game Was Already Loaded
Lost beneath the presidential subplot is the fact that Saturday’s actual football game is enormous.
Texas enters Knoxville ranked No. 1, while Tennessee hosts its SEC opener in a sold-out Neyland Stadium. Tennessee says it will be the 30th consecutive sellout at the stadium.
Kickoff is scheduled for noon ET Saturday on ABC, with Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe calling the game.
And because we apparently need every possible variable in play Saturday, you can also keep an eye on the CLEATZ College Football Weather Report as kickoff approaches.
So the noon window now features:
No. 1 Texas.
Tennessee.
Arch Manning.
College GameDay.
Nick Saban.
Pat McAfee.
Donald Trump.
And potentially one of the wildest celebrity guest-picker segments ESPN has ever attempted.
Completely normal Saturday in the SEC.
So, Is Trump the College GameDay Guest Picker?
Not officially.
As of Wednesday evening, ESPN has not confirmed Trump as the guest picker. Tennessee’s official GameDay announcement also leaves the guest-picker spot unnamed.
Could the puzzle pieces fit?
Absolutely.
But until ESPN makes an announcement, Trump attending Texas–Tennessee is confirmed; Trump picking Texas–Tennessee on College GameDay remains speculation.
Either way, we’re certainly not changing the channel.
And before kickoff, the full CLEATZ College Football hub has the latest lines, public betting, picks, weather and Week 4 data.
CLEATZ will update this story if ESPN makes the guest-picker announcement official.
Jason Ziernicki is the founder of CLEATZ and has worked in the online sports betting industry since 2012. At CLEATZ, he focuses on public betting data, sportsbook line movement, prediction markets and data-driven sports betting tools.
