Bill Belichick to serve as guest picker on ESPN College GameDay ahead of Army-Navy game

When ESPN’s College GameDay heads to Gillette Stadium for Saturday’s Army–Navy game, an NFL icon will be the guest picker. New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick will do the honors, ESPN announced Thursday.

College GameDay is making the trip to Foxborough for the game, which marks the first time Army and Navy will square off at the Patriots’ home stadium and the ninth time the show will be in attendance for the game. The Midshipmen will serve as the home team.

Belichick is one of the greatest coaches in NFL history, leading the Patriots to six Super Bowl titles as part of his career. Overall, he has a 300-161 record during his storied career, joining Don Shula and George Halas as the only coaches to ever reach the 300-win mark.

But he also has ties to Navy. Although he was born in Nashville, Bill Belichick was raised in Annapolis and his father, Steve Belichick, served as an assistant at Navy from 1956-89. His father made quite an impact on him and, in a way, gave him a head start on his coaching career.

More on this year’s Army-Navy game

Army and Navy are preparing for their 124th matchup in the history of their rivalry — a tradition dating back to 1890. The Midshipmen lead the all-time series 62-54-7, but the Black Knights have won five of the last seven games.

It’s also a traditionally low-scoring game. In fact, last year’s game was the first time the over hit since 2005 as Navy won 20-17 in double overtime in Philadelphia. This year, the over-under is set at 28.5, according to FanDuel.

Navy had an up-and-down year in 2023, finishing with a 5-6 record, including a 4-4 mark in American Athletic Conference play. Army also went 5-6 in what will turn out to be the Black Knights’ final year as an independent.

Next year, the American Athletic Conference will lose SMU to the ACC after the latest round of conference realignment, and Army will then join the conference as a football-only member. That means Army and Navy will be in the same conference for football.

However, once Army joins the AAC, the game against Navy will remain a non-conference game so it will take place the week after conference championships. In addition, if the Black Knights and Midshipmen play against each other in the American championship game, they will square off again the next week.