ESPN College GameDay announces comedian Nate Bargatze as guest picker for Missouri at Vanderbilt

ESPN College GameDay has announced its guest picker for this week’s showdown between No. 10 Vanderbilt and No. 15 Missouri. Comedian Nate Bargatze will have the honors.

Bargatze is a big Vanderbilt fan, so the Commodores will have some home cooking on their side on the popular pregame show. But the comedian has also flashed some real sports knowledge over the years, so fans will likely be in for a treat.

It will actually be the second time on the desk for Nate Bargatze. He also appeared on College GameDay on Nov. 4, 2023. He is a comedian and a Nashville native.

As the popularity of college football has grown and the presence of College GameDay has expanded, so too have the offerings around the show. The show this weekend will feature special musical performances from the likes of Kenny Chesney and Dierks Bentley. They will perform live from Wyatt Lawn during Saturday’s show.

Chesney has played over 204 major stadium shows and won eight Entertainer of the Year Awards, and he’ll be performing his major hit, “Get Along.” That should delight fans.

Bentley, who is a Vanderbilt graduate himself, as well as a 15-time Grammy-nominated artist, will have his act. He’ll lead off with “What Was I Thinkin,” along with “IYKYK.”

But Nate Bargatze will be the highlight as the guest picker. Though the show has since lost legendary figure Lee Corso to retirement, the picks segment remains as popular as ever.

Huge stakes for Missouri at Vanderbilt

After Nate Bargatze is done picking a winner, the two programs will actually square off on the field. It’s a game that carries some major implications. ESPN analyst Heather Dinich outlined the stakes for each team earlier this week on College Football Playoff: Top 25. She started with the ‘Dores.

“This is a huge one for College Football Playoff implications, and it’s because when you look at the AP Poll and you see Vandy sitting there at 10 they are a fantastic story,” Dinich said. “Clark Lea has done an amazing job. But I think they might have more to prove in the selection committee meeting room.

“When you look at the win against LSU, it was big, but it was also their first win against a Power Four opponent over .500,” she said. “If they beat Mizzou, their playoff chances will jump to 49%, according to the Allstate Playoff Predictor.”

Dinich then went on to assess what this game might mean for Missouri. The stakes are very similar.

“Mizzou is in a similar spot, right, because they also lost to Alabama, but they have even less to compensate for it on their schedule right now,” Dinich said. “Because not only do they need a win against a ranked opponent, this would be their first win against an opponent with a winning record.

“Those are things the committee looks at. You know this, they look at their opponents’ winning percentage, and right now, Mizzou is one of the worst in the country. They’re No. 103 with opponent winning percentage.”