Panthers Star Named College GameDay Guest Picker

With College Gameday being in Miami this weekend, they needed to find a guest picker and chose a back-to-back Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup champion to fill that role.

Jun 17, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) hoist the Stanley Cup after game six of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Every Saturday the ESPN College GameDay crew travels to the city that is hosting the most popular college football game that weekend. And with College GameDay, comes needing a celebrity that is familiar with the area the show is at, to pick certain matchups that Saturday.

College GameDay is headed to Miami this weekend for the Florida Gators versus Miami Hurricanes game on Saturday night. And with it being in Miami, they chose the Florida Panthers superstar Matthew Tkachuk to be their guest picker outside of Hard Rock Stadium.

Back-to-back Stanley Cup champ turned guest picker 🏆

Can't wait to have Matthew Tkachuk join us in Miami this Saturday 🙌 pic.twitter.com/AXyTxBLE1j

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 18, 2025

Tkachuk is not from Miami as he is actually from Scottsdale, Arizona, but with the game being in Miami and the Panthers playing in Sunrise which is close to Miami, the connection made sense. Tkachuk came over to the Panthers in a trade right before the 2022-23 season and has flourished ever since.

Tkachuk missed quite a bit of the 2024-25 season with an injury as he only logged 52 games, but was back in time for the playoffs and to help his team win their second consecutive Stanley Cup. In three seasons as a Panther so far, Tkachuk has scored 88 goals and added 166 assists which is quite the accomplishment to go along with being a back-to-back Stanley Cup Champion in Sunrise.

Jun 17, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) controls the puck against the Edmonton Oilers during the second period in game six of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

It was also announced recently that Tkachuk will miss a good portion of the 2025-26 season as he had offseason surgery to repair a sports hernia and a torn abductor injury. The fact that Tkachuk was able to play in the playoffs through those injuries, and put up a point-per-game in 23 games in the playoffs, speaks to the kind of athlete that Tkachuk is.

When College Gameday decided to pick Tkachuk to be their guest picker this upcoming weekend in Miami, they definitely chose a good one. He adds this appearance to his trophy case as he was also named the cover athlete of NHL 26 back in August.

Whoever he decides to pick in the big matchup between the Gators and the Hurricanes, he might bring the Stanley Cup with him and the fans in attendance would definitely go crazy.

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