College Gameday’s Failure in Tuscaloosa

The disrespect ESPN and College Gameday have shown toward the University of Alabama this weekend is undeniable. Choosing a guest picker with no connection to the University—or even to the state of Alabama—is a clear miss by ESPN.

A key part of Gameday’s charm is featuring a guest who shares an affiliation with the host school. It energizes the home crowd and gives fans someone who truly represents their team on the main stage. I honestly can’t recall another instance where Gameday invited an opposing fan as the guest picker—yet that’s exactly what’s happening in Tuscaloosa today.

So, who’s the guest picker? None other than Nashville’s own, Theo Von. Now, I like Theo—his podcast is great—but let’s be real: he’s a massive fan of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia. Von’s fandom is so strong he’s even joked about wanting to go on a date with Pavia’s mom. Maybe ESPN will try to turn that into an on-air stunt for some awkward laughs.

What makes this worse is Rece Davis, an Alabama alum and Gameday host, defending the decision by saying, “I haven’t heard anyone complaining about Nick being up there.” Okay, Rece, here’s the difference: Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, and Pat McAfee aren’t on that set because they played for Ohio State, Michigan, or West Virginia—they’re there because they’re great analysts. Saban isn’t there because he’s Alabama’s former coach; he’s there because he’s the greatest college football coach of all time.

Trying to frame this as comparable is just silly. I’d have more respect for Rece if he simply said, “We like Theo and think he’ll be entertaining.”

College Gameday will go on, of course. But this one feels like a swing and a miss. This season alone, we’ve seen Gameday bring in guest pickers who reflect their host schools—Candace Parker for Tennessee, LaVar Arrington for Penn State, Matthew Tkachuk for Miami, Trae Young for Oklahoma. But when it’s Alabama’s turn? No one with ties to the school or the state.

That’s a miss, ESPN. Tuscaloosa deserves better.