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The Oregon Duck and Sabrina Ionescu make an “O” together after the New York Liberty defeated the Toyota Antelopes in a exhibition game at Matthew Knight Arena. Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Liberty Star Sabrina Ionescu Makes Historic GameDay Return

Originally posted on New York Liberty on SI
By Geoff Magliocchetti | Last updated Oct 11, 2025 2:00 PM ET

New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu went back to school this weekend, returning to her alma mater of the University of Oregon to partake in the latest edition of ESPN's "College GameDay."

The Worldwide Leader's beloved college football pregame show made its way to Eugene for the third-ranked Ducks' anticipated Big Ten showdown with No. 7 Indiana with Ionescu serving as the weekly celebrity guest picker. It was a historic outing in that regard, as Ionescu becomes the first woman to sit in GameDay's celebrity chair twice.

"It's not about me, it's about this amazing university. Look at the fan turnout we have, the support," Ionescu told GameDay reporter Jess Sims, a former Liberty game host at Barclays Center. "It feels amazing. Every time I'm able to come back, represent the University of Oregon, it's a blessing for me. I didn't have to prepare too much, I know what my pick is."

She's not new to this, she's true to this. The first woman to return to @CollegeGameDay as a guest picker

Sabrina Ionescu joins @Jess_Sims ahead of her picks pic.twitter.com/dfldSb17GS
— espnW (@espnW) October 11, 2025

The WNBA champion and four-time All-WNBA team rep hardly needed to think about her pick for the game of the day, which matches two of the three remaining unbeaten teams in the Big Ten. Ionescu firmly declared that the "grass is [darn] green in Eugene" while predicting her a "million"-point victory for her Ducks.

Ionescu's enthusiasm was hardly a surprise considering the way Oregon has built her personal and professional lives, having taken the Ducks' women's basketball program to unprecedented heights en route to the Liberty making her the top pick of the 2020 WNBA Draft. A WNBA championship ring isn't the only one Ionescu has on her finger, as she's married to former Hronnis Grasu, an All-American offensive lineman who repped the Ducks for five seasons.

Sabrina Ionescu is going with Oregon to beat Indiana pic.twitter.com/saLVHFPDRi
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 11, 2025

Ionescu came to the GameDay set bearing gifts, showing up with boxes of Sabrina 3 sneakers for the GameDay bunch. That, however, however, wasn't enough to sway Indiana-based personality and former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee away from the Hoosiers, which has only seven wins against top 10 competition in its football history.

View Ionescu's full picks below ...

Wake Forest over Oregon State ("I can't pick that other school.")
Texas Tech over Kansas
BYU over Arizona
Arizona State over Utah
Texas A&M over Florida
Texas over Oklahoma ("I'm a huge [Texas quarterback] Arch Manning fan.")
Alabama over Missouri ("I have to say on [former Alabama coach and GameDay analyst Nick] Saban's good side.")
Illinois over Ohio State ("I'm not picking Ohio State," which handily defeated Oregon in last season's Rose Bowl)
USC over Michigan ("I have to go with the former Pac-12 school.")
Oregon over Indiana

Perhaps reflecting her on-floor persona, Ionescu was bold in some of her picks, being the only panelist to select Arizona State, Illinois, and USC. Ionescu went 6-5 in her previous visit to "GameDay" back in October 2022, which saw Oregon take down UCLA 45-31.

This article first appeared on New York Liberty on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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