College GameDay returned to a roaring Iowa City for the first time in 20 years on Saturday, and the Pentacrest crowd grew even louder once Caitlin Clark stepped into the guest-picker spot. The former Hawkeye star brought a familiar face back to campus on a big football morning. One choice she made, though, flipped the noise in a hurry.
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Clark served as the celebrity guest picker for the Iowa-Ohio State edition of the show. The Indiana Fever had just been eliminated by the Las Vegas Aces, which cleared her schedule for the trip. The same weekend also included the launch of her Caitlin 1 Nike signature shoe, with events tied to Iowa City. Fans on site had every reason to greet her warmly.
She did pick Iowa over Ohio State, the call most people expected from a former Hawkeye. Another selection changed the mood right away. Clark took Iowa State to beat West Virginia. Iowa and Iowa State share the long Cy-Hawk rivalry, and the schools had just met on September 12, when Iowa won 16-13. Iowa State was still a slight home favorite against West Virginia, listed around a three-point edge, so the pick was not far outside the betting line.
“This is gonna be a bad start for me, but I’m taking Iowa State,” she said. Clark acknowledged the reaction she expected from the Iowa crowd and framed the pick with humor while noting she wanted “100% accuracy.” She already sensed the crowd might not love it.
The boos followed the Iowa State selection. The reaction was tied to that choice over West Virginia. The crowd was overwhelmingly made up of Iowa supporters because the show was built around Iowa’s game against Ohio State. Associated Press writer Tim Reynolds also noted the same day that Iowa fans booed her specifically for the Iowa State pick.
Iowa and Iowa State have been in-state rivals for years in football and basketball. Clark is an Iowa alum and a Hawkeyes legend, so backing the Cyclones on Iowa’s campus created a flashpoint. The desk made the moment sharper still.
Pat McAfee is a West Virginia alumnus and a former Mountaineers punter, and he backed WVU on the show. The panel leaned toward West Virginia during her segment, and the on-air pushback reflected that lean. Clark’s Iowa State pick ran against the direction McAfee and others were taking.
She called it a “bad start,” and added that she’d “rather play football at Iowa State.” She asked them to “give [her] a little break here.” Clark smiled, gestured toward the crowd. She cast it as a home-state lean even while she expected the Iowa City crowd and the WVU-leaning panel to push back.
The game she picked was already underway. West Virginia entered 3-1 and 0-1 in the Big 12. Meanwhile, Iowa State entered 2-2 and 0-1 in the Big 12. Iowa State was favored by around 3 points, with models giving the Cyclones a 55-57% chance of winning at home. Iowa State had won the last two games, including a 28-16 road win in 2024 and a 31-14 home win in 2022.
Clark’s other choices included UMass, BYU, Arizona, Miami, USC, Michigan, Mississippi State, and Florida, as well as Iowa over Ohio State.