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Bryce Harper's 'College GameDay' appearance made Michigan fans super mad

Mark Townsend
Yahoo Sports Contributor
Bryce Harper proves loyal to Ohio State, angers Michigan fans during ESPN
Bryce Harper proves loyal to Ohio State, angers Michigan fans during ESPN “College Gameday” appearance. (AP)

Bryce Harper made some important decisions on Saturday morning, including one that made his allegiance to a specific sports team very clear and another sports fanbase very angry.

Before you get too excited, this actually has nothing to do with his ongoing free agency.

The six-time MLB All-Star served as the weekly guest picker on ESPN’s “College GameDay” program, which put his loyalty to Ohio State football to the ultimate test.

Spoiler alert: He passed the test.

Harper, alongside ESPN regulars Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso, was tasked with picking several of the day’s biggest college football games. That included the Big Ten’s marquee matchup featuring Michigan and Ohio State. College GameDay was on location at Ohio Stadium, aka “The Horseshoe”, which meant Harper was surrounded by a raucous crowd that would not have been happy had he picked against Ohio State.

Decked out in Ohio State’s customary scarlet and grey, Harper was actually the lone panel member to pick Ohio State to win the rivalry game.

That went over well in Columbus, but Michigan fans weren’t having it.

Those were some of the cleaner angry tweets directed at Harper.

As some fans might not know, Harper actually is an avid Buckeyes fan. His wife, Kayla, starred on Ohio State’s women’s soccer team. We’re sure all of that played a part in Harper being selected as Saturday’s guest picker. That, and his name is creating plenty of buzz right about now as we await real news on his baseball future.

The Gameday visit was void of any baseball discussion, however. All Harper had for us was his picks, which aside from Ohio State included Louisiana Lafayette, Appalachian State, Minnesota, Purdue, Syracuse, Georgia, LSU, Florida, Alabama, Utah and Notre Dame.

He should definitely bat over .250 with those picks.

We must say, the biggest disappointment of the segment was ESPN’s regular panel not giving a prediction as to where Harper will end up signing. Would it have been awkward? Sure. But who didn’t want to see Lee Corso put on a Phillie Phanatic head? That would have made it all worthwhile.

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