On a packed day of conference championships, college football fans have already faced what might be the biggest shock of the day: Timothée Chalamet knows ball.
Chalamet joined the desk of ESPN’s “College GameDay” in Atlanta on Saturday ahead of the SEC title game between Texas and Georgia. The Oscar-nominated actor then proceeded to make a series of well-researched, well-informed picks, much to the shock of fans and analysts.
During his spot, Chalamet rattled off specific statistics and referenced teams’ progress in relation to previous seasons. He name-checked lesser-known players like Ohio quarterback Parker Navarro and SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings.
“I wanna go 6-0,” Chalamet said before making his sixth pick, of seven total.
Chalamet’s selection as guest picker, which was announced earlier this week, had raised some eyebrows: The Hollywood A-Lister seemingly had no connection to either Texas or Georgia, and has not previously shown a public interest in college football. His appearance on the show seemed largely set to promote his upcoming movie, “A Complete Unknown.” (ESPN and the movie’s distributor both have the same parent company, Disney.)
But Chalamet proved all of the haters wrong with a successful guest picker spot, showing off the in-depth knowledge and research he had done to prepare for it.
Chalamet’s picks for the day included:
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Jackson State over Southern (SWAC championship): correct
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Ohio over Miami (OH) (MAC championship: correct
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Louisiana over Marshall (Sun Bet championship): wrong
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Arizona State over Iowa State (Big 12 championship): correct
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SMU over Clemson (ACC championship): wrong
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Oregon over Penn State (Big Ten championship): correct
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Texas over Georgia (SEC championship): wrong
Chalamet was the only person on the show to pick underdog Ohio over Miami (OH) and was vindicated when Ohio destroyed Miami, 38-3. That ended up being the highlight of a 4-3 performance for the young actor, which we’ll call a success.
