The announcement of comedian and podcast star Theo Von as ESPN’s “College GameDay” celebrity guest picker ahead of Alabama-Vanderbilt caused another uproar among Crimson Tide fans longing for someone with some Capstone credentials.

Some fans even called the choice “disrespectful,” with Bama fan Courtney McKinney offering a list of well-known Tide fans as alternatives to someone with no connection to the team or state at all, from famous athletes to movie and TV stars.

Alabama has plenty of cultural contenders for this job (Jason Isbell, Courteney Cox, Channing Tatum, Kaitlan Collins), or you could just pick from the litany of legendary former Alabama football players, active or retired like Julio Jones, Shaun Alexander, Derrick Henry, Jalen Hurts, or Bryce Young.

Heck, San Francisco 49ers legend Mac Jones just finished a Thursday night game. Fly him out!

We asked our readers who ESPN should tap for the gig. They came up with some of the aforementioned names, plus others like Katie Britt, Sydney Thomas, Nate Oats, and of course, the state’s beloved meteorologist James Spann.

We have a former heavyweight champion in Deontay Wilder, a former “Bachelorette” in Hannah Brown. A two-time golf major champion in Justin Thomas (who has picked once before).

Tuscaloosa and the university it houses do not lack for big-named candidates to occupy that seat among Saban, McAfee, Herbstreit, Howard and Davis.

And what do we and ESPN want from that role anyway? Is there a prerequisite that the picker have a direct connection to the host campus? Certainly not.

The “E” in ESPN stands for “entertainment,” after all. They want someone who will engage not only the millions watching but also the sea of fans standing behind the set, creating the raucous live atmosphere that keeps the show so relevant season after season.

Do they want fans to cheer the celebrity picker? Boo them? Whatever heat they can generate to pop that crowd and the viewers at home.

If that means even booking a celebrity with ties to the opponent, which they have several times in Alabama’s case, so be it.

Take Theo Von: He’s been spotted on the sideline watching the Crimson Tide and even served as guest picker ahead of Alabama-Georgia’s 2023 SEC title game, but he’s friendly with Vanderbilt and their quarterback Diego Pavia (and the QB’s mom, potentially.) So why pick him for a game in Tuscaloosa ESPN’s Rece Davis put it simply.

“Have you checked out his social media following?” Davis said. “How many people follow him?” (1.6 million followers on X/Twitter and 8.5 million on Instagram.)

“He’s hilarious,” Davis said. “He’s been on the show before. I understand schools would like to have one of their legends. And we do that a lot. … We’ve had Joe Namath here. If memory serves me, we’ve invited Ozzie Newsome. We’d love to do it sometime, it just hasn’t worked out. When you have someone who transcends the game and expands your reach and is also awesome like Theo Von … Theo Von is an easy yes.

“He’s Theo Von,” Davis said. “And also, I haven’t heard anybody complain about Nick (Saban) being up there every week. ….. If you’re talking association, is there anyone more associated with Alabama than Nick Saban? He’s able to do his job without any problem.”

Davis said the show is “delighted” to invite Von (“a big time star”) back to the picker chair, but he understands if fans would prefer to see a former player or someone more connected to Alabama. Mostly, it means they care.

“I love the fact that people are passionate enough to be unhappy about it,” Davis said. “But at the same time, it’s fun. They’re picking games and Theo Vonn is in the business of fun for the most part. I understand but at the same time if we take a half-step back and look at it, it’s OK.”

So does Alabama have a celebrity picker problem, or are there just better options if and when the show makes the trip to T-Town? We dug into the stats, and fans are not wrong. Rarely does the show pick someone with direct connections to the program, school, city or state. The numbers do not lie here, but does that matter?

They’ve brought Crimson Tide legends on set before, but they’ve also had country stars like Eric Church, war heroes like Marcus Lutrell, iconic broadcasters like Verne Lundquist, and rap stars like Rick Ross.

It also just depends on which celebrity they can book. Who is even available this week? Who the gets fans going? Who makes the best television for this particular show?

As it turns out — including home, away and neutral-site games — we’ve seen 36 broadcasts that include a celebrity picker, and only eight have had direct ties to Alabama via playing experience or fandom.

It’s a tough contrast to a school like Penn State, when they bring on Nittany Lion fans or alums like Keegan-Michael Key, Lara Spencer, Trace McSorley, Ki-Jana Carter, Saquon Barkley, or their most recent picker LaVar Arrington. Literally 100 percent are Penn State-connected.

What about Ohio State, the only school ahead of Alabama in “College GameDay” broadcasts (26 total, 20 in Columbus)? They’ve had plenty of Buckeye heroes like CJ Stroud, Eddie George, AJ Hawk, Orlando Pace, Santonio Holmes, Jack Nicklaus, superfan LeBron James, Bryce Harper (wife played soccer at Ohio State), and even the band Twenty One Pilots. But they’ve also had a couple of of “neutral” celebrity appearances like Jack Harlow, though no one representing or rooting for the opposing team.

In the 20 total visits to Tuscaloosa, the show has welcome a guest picker on to the set 15 times. Guess how many you would consider Alabama-centric: Only eight, and that includes Joe Namath three times. (We also reported on what happened anytime the show has visited Tuscaloosa, including which celebrities got the call to make the picks.)

The show as also broadcast from Alabama games at away or neutral sites 21 times, and exactly zero guest pickers have had direct connections to Alabama.

So in 36 “College GameDay” episodes in which they invited a celebrity guest picker, only eight had what we consider “direct” connections to the Crimson Tide. Here’s what we found:

HOME

Bobby Bowden (born in Alabama, played at Alabama for one year before transferring)

Penn State at Alabama — Sept. 11, 2010

Brian Wilson (former LSU baseball player; wore stupid costume during picks)

LSU at Alabama — Nov. 5 2011 (Game of the Century)

Jake Peavy (born in Alabama; Alabama football fan)

LSU at Alabama — Nov. 9, 2013

Marcus Lutrell (Thank you for your service, sir.)

Mississippi State at Alabama — Nov. 15, 2014

Joe Namath (Broadway Joe himself)

Auburn at Alabama — Nov. 29, 2014

Eric Church (country singer; wears sunglasses)

Ole Miss at Alabama — Sept. 19, 2015

Rick Ross (The Boss, rapper, sports enthusiast)

LSU at Alabama — Nov. 7, 2015

Verne Lundquist (your favorite former CBS commentator)

Texas A&M at Alabama — Oct. 22, 2016

Justin Thomas (former Alabama golfer; true Gump)

LSU at Alabama — Nov. 9, 2019

Derrick Henry (Joyless Murderball partaker)

Georgia at Alabama — Oct. 17, 2020

Joe Namath (loyal to the Tide; wears fur no matter the temp)

Auburn at Alabama — Nov. 28, 2020

Joe Namath (Too much Bama in Beaver Falls’ finest)

Texas at Alabama — Sept. 9, 2023

Nate Bargatze (funny guy; wife likes Alabama; he likes Vandy)

LSU at Alabama — Nov. 4, 2023

Terry Saban (Miss Terry, to you; the GOAT; picks better than husband)

Georgia at Alabama — Sept. 28, 2024

Theo Von (comedian, podcaster, MTV Challenge champion)

Vanderbilt at Alabama — Oct. 4, 2025

15 celebrity guest pickers in Tuscaloosa

8 with direct Alabama connections (counting Joe Namath three times)

Chipper Jones (Atlanta Braves legend, underrated tweeter)

Alabama vs. Virginia Tech — Sept. 5, 2009 (Atlanta)

Lane Kiffin (football coach, troll; this was well before his Bama tenure/ass-chewings)

Florida vs. Alabama — Dec. 5, 2009 (Atlanta/SEC title)

Bo Jackson (decent athlete, but for Auburn)

Alabama at Auburn — Nov. 26, 2011

Jerry Jones (owned the stadium)

Michigan vs. Alabama — Sept. 1, 2012 (Dallas)

Lolo Jones (faster than you; ran track for LSU and America)

Alabama at LSU — Nov. 3, 2012

Matt Ryan (led 28-3 in the Super Bowl, once)

Alabama vs. Georgia — Dec. 1, 2012 (Atlanta/SEC title)

Lyle Lovett (Grammy-winner, Aggie)

Alabama at Texas A&M — Sept. 14, 2013

Charles Barkley (our favorite Auburn man, tbh)

Alabama at Auburn — Nov. 30, 2013

Katy Perry (Trevor Knight fan, pop superstar)

Alabama at Ole Miss — Oct. 4, 2014

Alabama vs. Wisconsin — Sept. 5, 2015 (Dallas)

Lil Wayne (rap superstar; likes LSU but a huge Packers fan)

Alabama at LSU — Nov. 5, 2016

Sam Hunt (played QB at UAB; do we claim that?)

Florida State vs. Alabama — Aug. 31, 2017 (Atlanta)

Charles Barkley (just put this man on television)

Alabama at Auburn — Nov. 25, 2017

Alex Bregman (baseball guy at LSU; didn’t wear stupid costume)

Alabama at LSU — Nov. 3, 2018

Quavo (rap superstar; loves Georgia)

Alabama vs. Georgia — Dec. 1, 2018 (Atlanta/SEC title)

Brian Bosworth (The Boz; star of action classic ‘Stone Cold’)

Oklahoma vs. Alabama — Dec. 29, 2018 (Miami/Orange Bowl)

Zac Brown (country star; played Jupiter Bar in Tuscaloosa many times)

Georgia vs. Alabama — Dec. 4, 2021 (Atlanta/SEC title)

Glen Powell (movie star, Texas fan; trying to replace Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey and Eli Manning all at once)

Alabama at Texas — Sept. 10, 2022

Peyton Manning (Manning face originator)

Alabama at Tennessee — Oct. 15, 2022

Theo Von (upstaged by Pat McAfee before this game)

Georgia vs. Alabama — Dec. 2, 2023 (Atlanta/SEC title)

Livvy Dunne & Paul Skenes (LSU first couple, athletes; LSU lost this game badly)

Alabama at LSU — Nov. 9, 2024

21 celebrity pickers for away/neutral Alabama games

0 with direct Alabama connections

Ramsey Archibald contributed to this report.