The first episode of ESPN’s premier college football show to go on without the lovable exploits of Lee Corso takes place in the heart of the Sooner State on Saturday morning. That’s when Rece Davis and company will head to Norman to revel in the pregame hijinks ahead of that night’s matchup between No. 18 Oklahoma and No. 15 Michigan inside Memorial Stadium, with the contest kicking off at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time on ABC.
With all that in mind, BetMissouri.com - home to the countdown to Dec. 1 Missouri sports betting - broke down the odds on which celebrity will get to join Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban and Pat McAfee as this week’s picker, with a host of OU alums atop the list right now.
Celebrity Guest Picker | Percentage Chance | Odds |
Jalen Hurts, NFL Player & Former Sooner | 13.8% | +625 |
CeeDee Lamb, NFL Player & Former Sooner | 13.3% | +650 |
Shai Gilgeous Alexander, NBA Player | 12.5% | +700 |
Bob Stoops, Former Oklahoma Head Coach | 11.8% | +750 |
Carrie Underwood, Musician & Oklahoma Native | 9.1% | +1000 |
Blake Shelton, Musician & Oklahoma Native | 9.1% | +1000 |
Trae Young, NBA Player & Former Sooner | 7.4% | +1250 |
The Field | 23.5% | +325 |
Disclaimer: These odds were developed by and are exclusive to BetMissouri.com, but regulated operators offering top MO sportsbook promos will offer wagers on each college game, plus futures betting and more.
Our leading pick to be this week’s guest picker is a man that finished second in the Heisman Trophy race during his lone season with the Sooners, as defending Super Bowl champion QB Jalen Hurts checks in at +625 to get the nod come Saturday morning. Hurts was a stud in Norman, throwing for 3,851 yards and 32 touchdowns (to eight interceptions) with OU in 2019, adding a career-high 1,298 yards and 20 scores on the ground for the Sooners and guiding the club to a 12-2 record and a berth in the CFP, where they lost to eventual champs LSU, 63-28.
The two-time Pro Bowl gunslinger doesn’t have a conflict, schedule wise, as Philly opens the NFL season against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night, with oddsmakers from bet365 Missouri giving the defending champion Eagles -395 moneyline odds in that contest.
Should Hurts not get the nod come Saturday, keep an eye on one of his former favorite targets in Norman, as wideout CeeDee Lamb is our No. 2 man, odds-wise, at +650, with the Cowboys star also having an early game in Week 1 of the NFL season. Lamb was an All-American during his three-year run at OU, hauling in 173 catches for 3,292 yards and 32 scores from 2017 to 2019, earning All-American honors in his final season with the Sooners, making him another surefire GameDay pick should Hurts not be available.
Outside of those two former OU stars, keep an eye on the potential wild cards like Oklahoma Thunder MVP winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who did not attend university in Norman (going to Kentucky), but offering the show an in-state professional athlete to go with as this week’s guest picker.
Gilgeous-Alexander (+700) checks in ahead of legendary Sooners head coach Bob Stoops (+750) and a pair of country stars in Carrie Underwood and Blake Shelton at +1000 apiece, while former OU basketball star and longtime NBA guard Trae Young rounds out the list at +1250.
Stoops is OU’s winningest head coach, going 191-48 (.799) in 19 seasons with the Sooners, while guiding the SEC stalwarts to their most recent national championship in 2000.
Underwood hails from Muskogee, while Shelton is originally from Ada, giving both stars a natural tie-in to the Sooner State’s first GameDay appearance of the 2025 season, while Young’s one-year run with OU in 2017-18 netted him a host of on-court accolades, including a consensus All-American spot and the Big 12 Rookie of the Year honor, thanks to averaging 27.4 points, 8.7 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game that season, using that success to get picked fifth overall by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2018 NBA Draft.
Regardless of which celebrity gets the nod on Saturday, ESPN will have their fair share of noteworthy Sooners to pick from, ahead of Oklahoma’s much-anticipated nightcap against the Wolverines, on a night where OU is listed as a 5.5-point favorite (per DraftKings Sportsbook) over the visitors from Ann Arbor.
Author
Christopher Boan is a lead writer for BetMissouri.com, specializing in covering state issues. He has covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
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