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ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis announced via Twitter that comedian Frank Caliendo will be the celebrity guest picker for College GameDay broadcasting live tomorrow morning in Salt Lake City. This was not a name being thrown around prior to this announcement.
He is one man with many voices. @FrankCaliendo will bring it @CollegeGameDay as guest picker. Frank, the key phrase "not so fast my friend"
— Rece Davis (@ESPN_ReceDavis) October 28, 2016
Many thought that former Utes and current Baltimore Ravens Eric Weddle and Steve Smith, Sr., who are both on bye this week, would be the celebrity guest pickers, but per Kyle Goon, they have a conflict.
I heard from Utah athletics today that they reached out to both Steve Smith and Eric Weddle, but both had scheduling conflicts.
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) October 28, 2016
When Utah was not able to suggest someone for the role, it then went to ESPN to find someone, and because former Utah Jazz star John Stockton was here last year, they were trying to avoid another basketball player.
If Utah doesn't have a picker in mind, that's when ESPN takes over. Once Smith/Weddle were out, it was up to ESPN.
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) October 28, 2016
I was also told after John Stockton last year, there was an onus to not have a second basketball picker this year.
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) October 28, 2016
Caliendo may not have ties to Utah, and because of that some fans may not be thrilled with him as a celebrity guest picker. However, he does know football and has a background on football pregame shows, having spent time on Fox NFL Sunday from 2003-2012. He is also hilarious and should provide some great impressions during the show. One of my personal favorite GameDay episodes was when Jeff Dunham was the celebrity guest picker for Baylor-Oklahoma, and this final segment with Caliendo has the potential to be equally hilarious.