Johnny Knoxville may be the biggest let down ever as College GameDay's guest picker

The Texas Longhorns have propped up legendary actors like Matthew McConaughey and extraordinary athletes like Scottie Scheffler over the years as ESPN's College GameDay has come to Austin.

The Tennessee Volunteers had an opportunity to do the very same as the college football morning show prepared to come to Knoxville for the top-15 matchup between the Horns and the Vols.

And then, College GameDay's Pat McAfee announced that the celebrity guest picker of the week was... (drum roll, please)... Johnny Knoxville.

Never heard of him? You're not alone.

Knoxville, a native of the city that the Volunteers call home in Tennessee (Knoxville), is best known as one of the main crew members and co-creators of Jackass, an MTV stunt-based comedy show that turned into a franchise over the years.

Over the first three weeks of the season, ESPN tapped Lainey Wilson, beloved country music star, for the Clemson-LSU game; Glen Powell, award-winning actor, for the Ohio State-Texas game (Hook'Em); and Morgan Freeman, you know this one, for the LSU-Ole Miss game

To go from Freeman (Morgan freaking Freeman) to Knoxville (the man, no disrespect to the town) as the guest picker has got to be the biggest downgrade the show has ever seen.

Sure, Knoxville is funny; he's an actual Vols fan, and he will bring quite a bit of personality to the show, but they already have that with cast members like... McAfee. To put it lightly, there were about a billion other options that could have brought a little more juice to the ESPN show on Saturday morning.

3 better guest picker options for College GameDay at Texas-Tennessee

• Candace Parker - NCAA Champion, 2008 WNBA Draft No. 1 pick, WNBA 2008 ROY, 3-time WNBA Champion, two-time WNBA MVP, 2-time Gold medalist
• Peyton Manning - Consensus All-American, 2-time Super Bowl Champion, 5-time NFL MVP, Pro and CFB Hall of Famer
• Justin Gatlin - 6-time NCAA Champion, 3-time Diamond League winner, 5-time Olympic medalist, 12-time World Championships medalist

So, just to name a few iconic individuals who have graced the halls at Tennessee, and this is coming from a Longhorn fan, let's start with Candace Parker, Peyton Manning, and Justin Gatlin (just to name a few).

Parker led the Vols to a National Championship in women's basketball before going first overall in the 2008 WNBA Draft. She was the league's Rookie of the Year, won three WNBA Championships, is a two-time WNBA MVP, is a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, and that's just the beginning of her accomplishments.

Then we have Gatlin, who won six individual titles in track and field while at Tennessee, including sweeping the 100- and 200-meter dashes in both 2001 and 2002. He went on to win nine gold medals on the international stage, as well as nine silver medals and two bronze medals, including five medals over three different Olympic Games.

Last, but certainly not least, we have Manning, who has a tie to both teams. While his nephew, Arch Manning, is the starting quarterback of the Texas Longhorns, he suited up for the Vols in college and is the greatest football player ever to suit up in Tennessee orange (we don't even have time to get into all of his accomplishments).

Oh, both Manning and Parker's jersey numbers have been retired by the Volunteers.

While getting Manning on the show may have been a stretch, this is just the start of a lengthy list of options that would have been better than the underwhelming choice College GameDay made.

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