custom user profile field signle selection menu options with link to url/forum

[doob]

I'd like to have a custom user profile filed with a single selection menu that has 200 options, each one a different forum.

The user would select their favorite forum from the option list.

When viewing the user's about me section it would display their favorite forum which would link to that forum.

i.e.
option 1 links to forum 1
option 2 links to forum 2
option 3 links to forum 3
option 4 links to forum 4
and so on...

I already have the custom profile field setup and working with a drop down list naming each forum. I've also found a way to embed bb code URL tags into the drop down so that the result does end up linking to the correct forum, but I don't like that the bb code is visible to the user in the drop down menu (the code is hidden after the selection is submitted).

I'm not sure if I just need a plugin with a bunch of conditionals that runs at member_customfields or if I need to edit the member.php file.

Any tips or pointers really appreciated!