Theo Von announced as ESPN College GameDay celebrity guest picker for Vanderbilt at Alabama

Theo Von will be the celebrity guest picker on College GameDay this week, ESPN announced. The show will be in Tuscaloosa for Vanderbilt at Alabama.

Saturday will mark Von’s second appearance on College GameDay. The comedian and podcaster previously was on the panel as the guest picker at the 2023 SEC Championship between Alabama and Georgia.

Earlier this year, Von went viral for an exchange with Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia. Pavia promised Von a date with his mom if the Commodores beat South Carolina, SEC Network’s Cole Cubelic reported on the broadcast. Cubelic then found Von, who confirmed the story. Vanderbilt eventually won 31-7.

“Yes, it’s true,” Von said. “My goal is I’d like to marry a nurse someday so that’s why. He was telling me about that. I like being his friend, so I don’t want to end up being like his stepdad or something. We’ll see what happens.”

Pavia, however, took to social media to share a second part of the agreement with Theo Von. He said the deal was only in place if he got a date with pop star Tate McRae.

“what @TheoVon forgot is, I said it was a deal if and only if he told @tatemcrae to lemme take her on A1 date in Nashville,” Pavia wrote. “Twitter make it happen.”

Saturday’s game between Alabama and Vanderbilt is seen as one of the best on the Week 6 slate. It’s a rematch of last year’s game, which saw the Commodores pull off an upset victory over the Crimson Tide, who were fresh off a huge win of their own against Georgia. It also served as a landmark moment for both Pavia and the Vanderbilt program.

This year, Vanderbilt is surging once again into the matchup with a perfect 5-0 record. But Alabama is once again coming off a win over Georgia, this time at Sanford Stadium to improve to 3-1 on the year.

Pavia remains confident, though. Speaking with On3’s Chris Low this week, he thinks the Commodores can get a win once again if they stick to their game plan.

“I don’t know what they’re doing. I just focus on us, but I know we’ve got to bring it. That’s for sure,” Pavia said. “The crowd, I think, is going to be a big factor in the game. But we just gotta play within the white lines. If we do that, if we play our game, it won’t be close.”