College GameDay Crew Makes Picks for Backyard Brawl

Hours prior to the Backyard Brawl, the College GameDay crew made their picks from Columbia, SC. right before the South Carolina-LSU game.

Former WVU kicker Pat McAfee and West Virginia native Nick Saban were the only panelists to take the Mountaineers while Desmond Howard, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit went with Pitt. South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley was the guest picker this week, also taking the Panthers.

GameDay Crew, and Dawn Staley, make their Backyard Brawl picks

Pat McAfee and Nick Saban the only picking West Virginia today pic.twitter.com/EhEYl1NhXu

— Ethan Bock (@ethanbock_) September 14, 2024

“This is the biggest event of the year if you’re from West Virginia,” Saban said. “I grew up chanting ‘beat the hell out of Pitt’ and I’m not changing that today.”

“It was everything emotionally to everyone in the state. It was the pride of the Mountaineers. When you played Pitt, you needed to win that game,” Saban added.

Saban and McAfee reflected on the Backyard Brawl rivalry earlier in Saturday’s show.

Pat McAfee, Nick Saban Talk Importance of Backyard Brawl Rivalry

The 107th edition of the Backyard Brawl will take place at Acrisure Stadium at 3:30 p.m. as West Virginia looks to take back-to-back games in the series.