Blake Shelton participated in a new television gig involving college sports, but not all fans favored his appearance on the program.
Shelton, a former judge on The Voice, appeared on the set of the popular show College GameDay.
The show features a panel of regulars and usually one guest star who drops by to give their thoughts and picks for the upcoming college games.
This edition occurred in Shelton’s home state of Oklahoma, where a big matchup was looming between the Tennessee Volunteers and Oklahoma Sooners.
Due to the show’s location, the crowd featured many Sooners fans anxiously anticipating the panel’s picks. As one might guess, Shelton took the home team.
“There is no way in hell I am picking against OU. We got it! Whoo!” Shelton told a fired-up crowd as he donned a cowboy hat with OU on the front.
Shelton appeared as a College GameDay guest picker in OU territory
Shelton offered other picks for the big games on Saturday’s college football schedule, including one for the USC vs. Michigan game.
“I know you guys are sports dudes, but I have to live here in Oklahoma. There’s no way in hell I’m taking USC,” he said, adding, “Put me down for Michigan.”
That drew cheers from the crowd behind him and laughter from the panel members, including Pat McAfee, Lee Corso, and Desmond Howard.
“Are we supposed to have good reason to pick [the teams]?” Shelton asked later as the panel laughed.
He selected Boston College at home to defeat Michigan State and Arkansas to win against Auburn.
Shelton based his Arkansas pick on having “a bunch of country buddies” from the state who would be upset if he didn’t take them.
“Put me down for Coach Prime. I love it. I’m swept up in it,” he said as he chose Colorado, coached by Deion Sanders, to defeat Baylor.
Critics blasted Shelton as ‘worst’ guest on GameDay
The Instagram video (above) with highlights of Shelton’s picks racked up nearly 44,000 likes. Many fans stopped by to react to his performance, including one who suggested that ESPN should add him to the GameDay crew full-time.
More than a few College GameDay viewers vented on X about Shelton’s appearance as a guest on the show.
“You didn’t pick Utah. How did that go? Stick to music,” an Instagram commenter said, including a clown face.
“No bias, this College Gameday in Oklahoma is the worst one I’ve ever seen. Sorry a** crowed with Blake Shelton saying he’s also a OKST and Tulsa fan?” a commenter wrote.
Several X commenters suggested that Shelton might be “the worst guest picker in history” for the show.
“He seems awfully awkward and insecure for being a superstar with so much media experience,” a commenter said.
His winning picks included Arkansas, Michigan, Boston College, and Colorado for those wondering how Shelton did. Unfortunately, his home team, Oklahoma, suffered a loss at home to undefeated Tennessee.
Shelton didn’t fare too badly in making his picks, handing out some great winners to viewers.
He famously appeared as a judge on NBC’s The Voice for the first 23 seasons of the TV competition show. Shelton also knows about making winning picks, as he holds the most wins on the show, with nine of his musical talent selections being victorious.
He exited NBC’s show after Season 23 to focus on music and other projects. His wife, Gwen Stefani, returns as one of the judges for the upcoming Season 26, so Shelton will likely be rooting for her to win from afar.