Could Taylor Swift Be the Guest Picker for College GameDay at Notre Dame?

A few options to think about as the ESPN show broadcasts before Notre Dame plays host to Indiana in the first on-campus College Football Playoff game

Nov 4, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Recording artist Taylor Swift arrives prior to a game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Notre Dame is playing host to Indiana in the first on-campus College Football Playoff game on Dec. 20.

If you haven't heard, ESPN's College GameDay is doing a live show before the game from Notre Dame's campus, in the library quad right in front of Touchdown Jesus.

Now the show will be done before the Notre Dame vs. Indiana game but the following day another show will be done a few hours southeast in Columbus, Ohio ahead of the Ohio State vs. Tennessee playoff tilt.

I'm not certain what exactly that means for the traditional pick segment on Friday in South Bend, but the staff will certainly be picking at least the winner between the Irish and Hoosiers if nothing else.

So who will be the celebrity picker that College GameDay pridefully brings in thanks to *insert private jet company here*?

In case our friends at ESPN aren't already all over it, here are a handful of candidates for them to invite, who all have connections to Notre Dame.

6. Brady Quinn

Panelists Brady Quinn (left) and Mark Ingram speak during FOX's Big Noon Kickoff football pregame show at Texas Tech University, Saturday, November 9, 2024 at Jones AT&T Stadium. / Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Sure, Quinn works for the competition as part of Fox's Big Noon Kickoff Pregame Show, but Fox doesn't have rights to the College Football Playoff games. Why not put the baby-faced Quinn on set to make a few picks? The Notre Dame all-time leader in just about every passing statistic would certainly excite the crowd.

5. Condoleezza Rice

Notre Dame alumna and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice presents the flag before a NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and Stanford at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in South Bend. / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Notre Dame graduate didn't just used to be the United States Secretary of State, but also served on the College Football Playoff committee for its first three seasons from 2014-2016.

4. Jerome Bettis

Jerome Bettis claps during the Notre Dame Commencement ceremony Sunday, May 15, 2022 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend. MAIN Notre Dame Commencement / Michael Caterina / USA TODAY NETWORK

An electric personality and a Notre Dame football legend. Few to have ever worn the blue and gold are as beloved as Bettis, who entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015. For whatever its worth, Bettis was a sophomore at Notre Dame the last time the Irish and Hoosiers met, a 49-27 Notre Dame victory in 1991.

3. Joe Montana

Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers former quarterback Joe Montana cheers in the first quarter in Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium. / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Not only is Montana on the shortest of lists when it comes to the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game, he's a Notre Dame legend as his heroics helped guide the Irish to the 1977 national championship. Montana has been much more visible around the Notre Dame football program the last couple of years after spending roughly a decade or so away.

2. Shane Gillis

Comedian Shane Gillis waves to the spectators at the Olivia Culpo and Christian McCaffrey wedding at the Watch Hill Chapel and reception to follow at at the Ocean House in Westerly, RI on Saturday, June 29, 2024. / Marc Vasconcellos/The Enterprise / USA TODAY NETWORK

It just so happens that the most popular comedian going right now is also a huge Notre Dame fan. Gillis was a guest on the Pat McAfee Show when it broadcasted from Notre Dame before the Ohio State game in 2023 and stopped by College GameDay when it was at Texas A&M before the season-opener this year. The time has come to let him have a seat in the guest picker chair - just make sure the Texas Longhorns hat from his current commercial stays home.

1. Taylor Swift

Before you shoot down the idea, tell me, how did North Carolina land Bill Belichick as their new head football coach?

How did Travis Kelce, in the upset of the century, land the biggest pop-star in the world as his girlfriend?

Both parties simply asked and beat the odds.

Swift is fresh off her Era's Tour that just wrapped up and we already know she likes to attend football games in her free time. Perhaps ESPN could land the worldwide celebrity and get her to come pick a few football games at the university her brother graduated from in 2015.

13 years ago today, taylor swift and her bff selena gomez at a football game at notre dame university.

september 4, 2010 pic.twitter.com/ncbA4clP2N

— Taylor Swift Updates (@TSUpdating) September 4, 2023

Taylor went to Austin's graduation at Notre Dame this morning! pic.twitter.com/rnru9bR0SR

— Taylor Swift Updates (@TSwiftLA) May 17, 2015

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