‘College GameDay’ Reveals Celebrity Guest Picker for Miami-Florida

Another week yields another celebrity picker for ESPN’s College GameDay show. With the blockbuster show’s weekly appearance at a major college football battle often comes a celebrity picker who joins the analysts in making predictions for the week’s biggest games. This week, it’s a famous athlete, although not one known for football- NHL star Matthew Tkachuk.

College GameDay has been a weekly tradition since 1987 and began conducting the show from college campuses for over 30 years. The celebrity picker isn’t a normal part of the show’s cast from week to week, but is a guest brought in to hype up the local crowd and engage in some banter with the show’s usual cast. Everyone from pop stars to actors can pop up to claim the role, although professional athletes are often a solid pick, particularly if they went to school and/or played for the relevant home team at the current week’s broadcast site.

Tkachuk is a standout forward with the NFL’s Florida Panthers. He can certainly weigh in on championship-level competition, claiming Stanley Cup wins with the Panthers in 2024 and 2025. Tkachuk grew up in St. Louis, where his father played in the NHL. He briefly went to high school with Boston Celtics legend Jayson Tatum, although again, the ties are unfortunately unrelated to football. Tkachuk is a two-time NHL All-Star, with the first of this appearances coming in 2020 with his former team, the Calgary Flames.

Unlike recent guests (Candace Parker, Trae Young), Tkachuk lacks any direct ties to the home team Miami Hurricanes— or at least, no tie not also directly applicable to the visiting Florida Gators. Of course, with the geographically compact rivalry game between the two Florida teams, it might be even more interesting to see which was Tkachuk will go on picking the weekend’s local rivalry. Tkachuk does have a sibling with college ties, as his sister, Taryn, plays with the field hockey team at the University of Virginia. But his Week 4 picks will be a mystery going into Saturday’s College GameDay show.