Caitlin Clark risked upsetting Iowa fans as she returned to campus for College GameDay on Saturday morning. The Indiana Fever star was named guest picker for the ESPN pregame show, as she made her Iowa City comeback ahead of a key Big 10 clash between her No. 14 Hawkeyes and No. 5 Ohio State.Clark was back in Iowa City as GameDay’s guest pickerESPNThe Fever star picked Iowa State, before winning the Hawkeyes crowd over with another big pickESPNClark was a college superstar for Iowa, and was back on campus days after suffering a heartbreaking loss in the WNBA playoffs.The Fever were beaten 2-1 by the Las Vegas Aces in round 1 of the postseason, ending their 2026 season.Indiana’s superstar put up 18 points and four assists in a losing effort in the Game 3 decider on Thursday night, but got very little sympathy as she appeared at the GameDay desk. Cailtin Clark booed on Iowa returnThe first pick she was asked to make on ESPN, as she sat alongside Nick Saban, Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit, was between Iowa State and West Virginia.While Saban and McAfee went for the popular choice of the Mountaineers, Clark picked the Cyclones to win.Iowa State and Iowa, of course, have a historic rivalry that stretches back to 1894.“This is gonna be a bad start for me, but I’m taking Iowa State, I want to get 100 percent accuracy,” Clark said, sparking jeers from the students that have long adored her. “It’s okay, you can boo me. I’ll make you happy at the end… a bad start. “My brother played football at Iowa State.”The early jeers, of course, soon turned to cheers, when Clark picked her former school to beat Ohio State to close GameDay. View Tweet: https://t.co/Eg056nyD9SView Tweet: https://t.co/QJLEEKgUfLIndiana Fever hurting after falling short of championship goalA return to campus, no doubt, would have been a welcome distraction for Clark, who saw her WNBA season end earlier than hoped.Since arriving in the league, the expectation placed on Clark’s shoulders has been to win a championship.Three years into her pro career, and that remains elusive.The signs, though, had been promising for the Fever in 2026.Clark partnered with Kelsey Mitchell to form the highest-scoring duo in WNBA history for the highest-scoring offense in league history.But with Year 3 finished in Indiana, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 draft has played just a handful of playoff games for the Fever.Clark and the Fever were eliminated in round 1 of the postseasonGetty“Obviously, probably (let this) hurt a little bit,” Clark said Thursday, immediately following elimination.“This is really only my fifth game playing in the postseason, so you kind of take the burn a little bit but also (remember) how much fun this season was and how together our group was and just getting to replicate that going forward.“I was able to come out here and put together the best season I’ve had and perform at a really high level and basically get better in every area and still feel like I have so many areas to improve.“So, I guess that’s the most exciting part moving forward. I love the work. I love being in the gym. So, I’ll probably be kicked out for a little while, but we’ll get back to it.”Clark has played just five playoff games in her Fever career to dateGettyThe goal now, will be for the Fever to build on an impressive 2026 regular season. Indiana finished with a record of 28-16, and took the sixth seed into the playoffs.Mitchell expects a deeper run next time around.“Being part of playoffs, this is what it’s all about, to get the experience,” she said.“To figure out what you’ve got to be better at, to figure out what your flaws (are), to figure out what your weaknesses are.Mitchell believes Indiana will be back stronger in 2027Getty“I think as a group, we still are getting our feet wet on the playoff experience side. And we played against a team that is full of playoff experiences. So that speaks for itself.“I think all we could do is keep fighting our best to be able to get in these positions to be able to get the experience.“I think that you look at the film, you take your preseason and use it for what it is, and I think we put ourselves in a position to be back here hopefully next year.”