Times are a changing for ESPN’s College GameDay. On Thursday, the show announced that its next guest selector will be Oscar-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet.
Chalamet will be at the show in the Peach State, where College GameDay will take place prior to the SEC title game. The game between No. 5 Georgia and No. 2 Texas will take place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The choice is somewhat surprising: Chalamet, born in New York, is a well-known football fan and a fan of the Knicks and the Mets, but has not shown much interest in American football. The 28-year-old actor also apparently has no affiliation with either school, which is typical of a guest voter.
Guests from earlier this year included actor Keegan Michael-Key, pitcher Paul Skenes and gymnast Livvy Dunne, swimmer Michael Phelps, college basketball coach Dawn Staley and former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch. All of these pickers were graduating or otherwise involved with the schools hosting College GameDay that week.
Chalamet is busy promoting the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” due out on Christmas Day. The film is distributed by Searchlight Pictures, which is owned by the same parent company – Disney – as ESPN.
Georgia and Texas, which are 10-2 and 11-1 respectively, have both already hosted College GameDay this season. The Bulldogs handed the Longhorns their only loss of the season in October and will look to do so again.
Saturday’s winner will get a bye in the first round of the College Football Playoff, while the loser will still very likely make the playoff field.
