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Countdown to Coverage: College Football’s Best TV Show

BSM Staff
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Countdown to Coverage: College Football’s Best TV Show

College football season is nearly here.

Forget last Saturday. It’s called Week 0 for a reason. Do you really want to believe the first game of the 2022 season was 3-9 Northwestern and 3-9 Nebraska playing halfway around the world?

Here at Barrett Sports Media, we are celebrating college football from a media angle. All week long, our editors and resident college football superfans, Arky Shea, Demetri Ravanos and Garrett Searight, will be looking at the best the media has to offer in terms of college football coverage.

The entire schedule is as follows:

MONDAY: Best Local Show

TUESDAY: Best National Radio Show

WEDNESDAY: Best College Football Podcast

THURSDAY: Best TV Show

FRIDAY: Best TV Play-by-Play Booth

College football is all over television on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. All of those games require A LOT of studio coverage. So who does it best?

Do you prefer the pageantry and storytelling of College Gameday? Maybe the no-nonsense approach of Big Noon Kickoff is more your speed. What if the best TV show isn’t on in a pregame window?

As we inch closer to the inevitable tag team main event featuring the SEC and ESPN versus the Big Ten and FOX, this discussion may end up being the college football media’s most important pissing contest. Here are our picks for college football’s best TV show.

COLLEGE GAMEDAY by Arky Shea

You can debate the validity of any show you want, the king is still ESPN’s College GameDay. The show kicked off it’s 36th season and has lapped the field in terms of college fandom allegiance and tradition. The desk lineup is loaded with names that you associate with the sport: Rece Davis who has deep ties into college football as a graduate of the University of Alabama, Desmond Howard, a Heisman Trophy winner that’s been giving his hot takes since 2005 on GameDay, Kirk Herbstreit who has become the most influential broadcasting voice in the sport. THE MOST. And of course Lee Corso, a man that pioneered something so collegiate, so simple and so brilliant that nobody else can ever do it! Only one man’s headgear prediction matters.

It’s become everyone’s Saturday wake-up call for a reason. There is a chemistry on that set that is so pure that it’s morphed long ago into familial status. There’s not another college football TV show that effortlessly entertains the sport’s diehards until kickoff like GameDay. It will take a lot to knock the crown off their head. The show has spearheaded so many ideas we take for granted about a pregame show like showing up on location, promoting fan’s to bring their own signage and inviting celebrities to the table to beef up the curb appeal. Hands down, College GameDay still reigns.

BIG NOON KICKOFF by Garrett Searight

College GameDay is a lot like my 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I loved that car. I had so many memories with it that I will cherish until my dying day. I openly wept the day a man didn’t tie down rabbit cages in the back of his truck and I had to stop on the highway to avoid hitting them and someone rear-ended me and the Jeep was totaled. I was gonna drive that Jeep for another 150,000 miles. And then I switched to a new car, and while I still love that old Jeep, you realized there’s a whole new wave of automotive technology out there.

When Big Noon Kickoff hit the airwaves, I couldn’t help but sample it. Demetri wrote a story a few weeks ago that included the mission of Big Noon Kickoff was to be new and relevant and he couldn’t be more correct. I’m 32 years old. Desmond Howard — who last week said he couldn’t understand how Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, who last year threw for 44 touchdowns and was a Heisman Trophy finalist, was the Heisman frontrunner this year — won the Heisman Trophy the year after I was born. Kirk Herbstreit was Ohio State’s quarterback when I was in diapers. Lee Corso’s last year as a college head coach was a year after my mom graduated high school.

On the flip side, Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart were college football during my formative years. Urban Meyer, while a troubling figure, is great on TV and won a National Championship coaching my favorite school in the last decade. Bob Stoops, who wasn’t nearly as great at TV as Meyer, was as worthy of a replacement as you could find. The Big Noon Kickoff cast is as relevant as one could assemble. Their puzzling insistence on using Clay Travis every Saturday notwithstanding, Big Noon Kickoff’s strictly-football approach is a welcomed change to GameDay’s broader, softer storytelling elements.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL FINAL by Demetri Ravanos

With all due respect to my colleagues, who I think are bright guys, the pregame ain’t it for college football on TV. We pregame all week and then the national media makes a hard pivot to the NFL the second the clock hits zero in Honolulu. A real college football fan knows the value and importance of College Football Final! It’s not just the late-night airing, it is the consecutive reruns on Sunday mornings that give us one last chance to contextualize everything that happened the night before.

The show has had problems in the past. I would argue that Lou Holtz made the show nearly unwatchable for years. I like what they have going now though. Matt Barrie brings the right level of snarkiness to the show alongside experts Joey Galloway and Jessie Palmer. The helmet stickers, the poll projections, the general sense of closure to the week are all needed on a Sunday before those of us that live and die with the college game turn our collective attention to the NFL.

Sports Talkers Podcast: Damon Amendolara, CBS Sports Radio

Stephen Strom
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Sports Talkers Podcast: Damon Amendolara, CBS Sports Radio

Damon Amendolara learned the hard way that radio is a business. After that, he just kept climbing. He talks about his career and who he thinks could make the same journey with Stephen Strom.

iTunes: https://buff.ly/3xYq3Oe

Spotify: https://buff.ly/3JVYgDp

iHeart: https://buff.ly/3JWPFQS

Google: https://buff.ly/3w9RBzX

Amazon: https://buff.ly/3psPDGZ

The Five Best College Football Broadcasters of All-Time

Andy Masur
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The Five Best College Football Broadcasters of All-Time

It’s that time of year again. College Football will be inescapable for the next 5 months. It will be everywhere. You’ll see games on your computer, your phones and yes, even your television. Games all day and all night. Heisman trophy candidates and upsets all in the same day. The pageantry of the sport is alluring, making it so popular and lucrative for the many networks out there.  

The approaching season got me thinking, which can be a dangerous thing, just ask my fiancé. Who were the best announcers to ever call college football? Which guys, when you hear them, think, wow, this is probably a big college football game? I have limited the choices to television, network announcers only. The ranking process was not easy, because there are many that have been involved in calling NCAA football, that are deserving, but there are only 5 spots on the list. 

Here we go! Let the debate begin. 

#5 Brad Nessler, ESPN, CBS

As I wrote when I featured Nessler in my “Anatomy of a Broadcaster” series, Brad Nessler is smooth, authoritative and in control of his broadcasts. You can tell he does his homework and in the opens to his television games, there’s a bit of a swagger that is noticeable if you watch closely. It is the type of swagger that’s not saying “I’m the man, look at me.” Instead, it is one that I believe says, “watch this broadcast, I know what I’m talking about and you’ll enjoy it.”

Nessler’s command of a broadcast and voice combine to make each game he does feel big. There’s a reason CBS tabbed him to replace Verne Lundquist on those marquee SEC on CBS games. He can handle it and then some. Professional to the end without making the broadcast and game about him. 

#4 Brent Musburger, ESPN/ABC, CBS

“You are looking live!” Musburger’s signature line used to get our Sunday’s off to a great start on the NFL Today on CBS. He transitioned to more of a play-by-play role when he left the network for ESPN/ABC. There, Musburger’s duties included calling seven BCS National Championship games (2000, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014). He recently wrapped up a four-year stint as the radio voice of the Las Vegas Raiders. 

Musburger is unlike the announcer I have at #5 (Nessler), because he makes the game a little more about himself during a broadcast. Even so, fans seemed to love him, because you never knew what he might say next. He somehow was able to endear himself to the viewer. His style may be less traditional than your typical play-by-play announcer, but it worked for him. Yet, when it was time to get excited, he certainly did, when it was time to be critical, he criticized. No matter the case, there was always a sense that when Musburger was on the call, it was a ‘must watch’ game. 

Musburger was one of the first to allude to the betting line in a game, look how far we’ve come in that respect. 

#3 Lindsey Nelson, NBC, CBS

Nelson’s voice was unique as was his attire, but he was one of the best to ever call games. He was known for his ‘loud’ plaid jackets. Legend has it, he started his collection that reached nearly 350 jackets, by asking a salesman for all the jackets he couldn’t sell. While the jackets may have made a statement, Nelson was quite understated in his broadcasts. Many called his style bland, and it was a deliberate act of his. 

“Bob Neyland once told me at Tennessee that Howard Johnson’s has 28 flavors of ice cream, and the one that sells the most is vanilla,” Nelson explained. “He said, ‘Give me the football game—who’s carrying the ball, what yard line, and who tackled him. Not a lot of funny stories.’” Nelson told Rudy Martzke in 1986.

Nelson was a recognizable voice in college football for more than 30 years. His voice was not deep, but it was strong with a bit of a Southern accent. He did play-by-play for Notre Dame for 14 seasons. Nelson became known as “Mr. New Year’s Day”, calling 26 Cotton Bowl games, 5 Sugar Bowls and 4 Rose Bowls. He also provided the call for multiple Army/Navy games, including the 1963 game that was the first to utilize instant replay.  

Nelson’s broadcasts may have been vanilla, but they were not dull. It was said of Nelson, that he learned to convey excitement without screaming. When he cracked his mic, you got the impression that he was excited to be wherever he was. 

#2 Verne Lundquist, ABC, CBS, TNT

This fan favorite helped put the SEC on CBS on the map. Lundquist transitioned from calling the NFL, to a starring role in the college football programming on the network. The timing was perfect for both Lundquist and CBS, when he started that role in 2000. The SEC was establishing itself as one of THE conferences as the BCS helped the college football landscape become more nationally known. 

Lundquist is ‘every man’, in the way he calls games. Watching Verne is like being told a story by one of your relatives. His broadcasts speak to people, in his excitement, phrases and storytelling ability. He’s not one of those egomaniacal broadcasters that has to make everything in a telecast about him. Lundquist has been praised as a great assist man, setting up his analysts to make a broadcast sing. 

#1 Keith Jackson, ABC

When the headline of your obituary says, “Keith Jackson, Voice of College Football, Dies at 89”, people know you made your mark. Jackson was the soundtrack to many Saturdays for fans of the game. If Keith was doing the game, it was a game that HAD to be seen. Big games, big moments and big calls were all a part of Jackson’s resume and reel. 

That resume included some other high-profile roles. Jackson was the original voice of “Monday Night Football”. He called 10 Olympic Games for “ABC’s Wide World of Sports”. Jackson was also one of the network’s voices for Major League Baseball, NBA and auto racing. 

While some announcers thought they were bigger than the game, Jackson was. Not that he made you think it, but the reverence shown for him by coaches, players and fans alike spoke louder than even his words. Jackson was a legend in the world of college football, much like Vin Scully was in baseball.

Jackson is credited with naming Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, “the Big House”, he also dubbed the Rose Bowl as, “the grandaddy of ‘em all”. He admired the big offensive and defensive linemen calling them, “the Big Uglies in the trenches.” 

Whoa, Nellie! Keith Jackson was the best to ever call college football. To borrow from his southern good ole boy nature, “and it ain’t even close.” 

Sean Grande: Play-by-Play is a “Sacred” Job

BSM Staff
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Sean Grande, the radio voice of the Boston Celtics, isn’t what you’d consider a “homer” play-by-play announcer. He doesn’t go wild for the home team when they do something good nor does he get quiet when the opposing team accomplishes feats. And he’s that way for a reason.

Appearing on the Sports Media Watch podcast, Grande said that he calls games straight because he takes the job he has as a documenter of history.

“My call of Golden State winning the championship didn’t sound the way it would have if the Celtics won it,” Grande said, “but it wasn’t some monotone thing either. It was documenting the moment.”

Grande said that the moment he is calling is a significant moment and it should be seen as such.

“You’re documenting the story of what’s happening.”

Grande’s voice changed a little when he continued on, emphasizing how serious he considers making the calls and the importance of being fair and accurate with it.

“This a sacred job to me. Documenting the history of whatever it is you’re doing it and that’s part of it is calling it accurately.”

Troy Aikman: Lack of Communication with FOX Led to Me Leaving for ESPN

BSM Staff
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One of the first major dominos to fall in this offseason broadcaster roulette was Troy Aikman leaving FOX to join ESPN, a move that prompted Joe Buck to seek his exit from FOX to join his partner. Aikman sought other employment because of a lack of communication with FOX.

“The reason that I’m no longer at Fox is mostly due to a lack of communication,” Aikman said on The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast. “Which is ironic since we’re in the communications business. But, that’s the way that it is.”

For context, Aikman agreed to a contract last year that included an opt-out for the broadcaster after last season. Aikman said he wanted the option because the two sides couldn’t agree on “fair market value” for his services going forward so he wanted that protection and got it. Since the end of the season, the phone lines have been quiet between he and FOX Sports’ CEO and executive producer Eric Shanks.

“I never had a conversation with Eric Shanks until he called to congratulate me on the ESPN contract,” Aikman said. “I asked him specifically for some comments that I had heard that circulated and got back to me and he refused to answer those questions. Joe had asked him the same questions as to ‘How did we get here?’ And he refused to answer those questions as well.”

Aikman went on to say that he didn’t know why things had gotten so quiet between the two and realizes he may never know.

“There may not ever be any clarity from my perspective as to what exactly happened. I was an employee of theirs for 21 years. I feel like I did everything that was asked of me. And I don’t feel like I ever gave them anything to complain about or be upset about. But, you know, so be it.”

“I used the word disappointing,” Aikman added. “I think that’s the biggest thing for me. I just think that it’s not hard just to have a conversation and if you have a position, that’s fine. Nobody has to feel at fault for feeling a certain way or taking a stand. Just communicate that. And I think that’s the biggest disappointment that I took from it. But with all that being said, I couldn’t be more excited to be at ESPN and see how someone else does it. And what I’ve seen is, they do it a lot differently, and it’s been refreshing.”

Jon Jansen: Timing Wrong For ‘Hard Knocks’

BSM Staff
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Jon Jansen: Timing Wrong For ‘Hard Knocks’

During Wednesday’s edition of Stoney & Jansen on 97.1 The Ticket, co-host Jon Jansen said the timeframe HBO’s Hard Knocks series airs isn’t conducive for making the final episodes must-see television.

While reading a note about a listener being uninterested in the latest episode, Jansen noted the complete absence of football content when Hard Knocks begins its season is what wets the appetite for the season, not the content on the show.

“I just think we’re so starved for football when training camp begins,” Jansen said. “Whether it’s here in Detroit, whether it’s in Cleveland, whether it’s in LA, we soak up everything football. As much as we possibly can. And then when we get to this point where it’s final cuts and we know what the roster is it’s still two weeks away and we’re looking for football items. (Then) College Football starts, we’ve got three Big Ten teams playing tomorrow. So we’ve moved on from the starvation of ‘We just want anything football’ to ‘We actually have real live football’. This doesn’t cut it anymore. There’s still story lines with these Detroit Lions. I just don’t care about them anymore.”

The current season of Hard Knocks features the Detroit Lions, and Jansen, hosting a show on a Detroit radio station, says the show needs to begin a week earlier.

“Have this be a before camp starts and it takes into account the start of the season,” Jansen said while noting it might be more difficult logistically for HBO.

ESPN: Troy Aikman and Joe Buck Were ‘At The Top Of Our List’

Derek Futterman
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As the start of the revamped Monday Night Football broadcasts on ESPN draws closer, the anticipation to get started is steadily growing as Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters – take the reins as the voices of Monday night.

“When we were white-boarding our ultimate booth shortly after the regular season, Troy and Joe were at the top of that list for all of us,” said ESPN Head of Event and Studio Production Stephanie Druley. “For me, they are simply the best team out there. Their chemistry, their love of the game and the high standard they set for themselves [is what] I think… makes them an incredible team.”

Buck and Aikman grew up watching Monday Night Football when Pat Summerall and John Madden brought fans the action, but viewed the game from very different perspectives. While Aikman was envisioning becoming a professional football player, Buck was striving to follow in his father Jack’s footsteps as a professional broadcaster. In fact, his father called the Monday night games with Hank Stram, albeit on the CBS Radio Network. Two doors down though, the team of Frank Gifford, Don Meredith and Howard Cosell was indicative of a media spectacle to Buck, and something he has always wanted to do.

Before landing the job as the new voice of Monday Night Football, Buck was the lead play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports on both its football and baseball broadcasts, getting the chance to call several Super Bowl and World Series games, along with other marquee matchups. In this new stage of his career, Buck figures to be an active member of ESPN and will appear across its programming and select ABC shows. He will be keeping the play-by-play to football, as he does not have a desire to return to calling baseball games but will instead focus on serving in a producer role for upcoming projects.

“I think I’m pretty good with just calling football [for] the rest of my life or the rest of my career,” Buck said, “which hopefully doesn’t turn into the rest of my life.”

ESPN was content with its previous Monday Night Football booth of Steve Levy, Louis Riddick and Brian Griese, but considers Buck, Aikman and Salters to be an upgrade. In landing the booth it has, the network is eager to see the product come Week 1 and hopes it leads to the league scheduling even better matchups for the broadcast in the years to come.

“These guys deserve a certain level of game, and the expectation is that the league sees that as well and we will reap the benefit of that,” Druley said. “We have an incredible schedule this year, and I do think that the booth matters in the amount of quality you’re going to get.”

Being the only football game on television each week presents a unique opportunity for this broadcast to stand out among the others and continue to make it appointment viewing for football fans. Akin to how he took center stage as a Hall of Fame quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, Aikman is ready to be in primetime with Buck, his longtime broadcast partner, to his left.

“To be at ESPN where it’s the only game on their network and the pride that they have in this property and what they are willing to do to make [it] a success and what it means in this portfolio of events is something that we’ve never experienced,” Aikman said. “….We’ve been with ESPN now for several months and we keep waiting. Now it’s finally here and it’s really exciting.”

The emphasis on just how special and revered these broadcasts are is hardly hyperbole, according to Buck, as he affirms it represents a preeminent broadcast property in the history of football broadcasts and live game broadcasts in general for that matter. Now as the opening broadcasts draws closer, Buck and his colleagues expect to bring fans a stellar product and when the moment they have been waiting for finally comes, it will symbolize the gravity and allure distinct to Monday Night Football.

“I think when that theme song hits, I’ll get chills,” Buck said. “….For people of a certain generation when you hear that theme song back in the day with the yellow jackets and the pomp and circumstance and the craziness that happens at Monday Night Football, it just has kind of always been something in my mind…. This is the pinnacle of being in any booth anywhere.”

iHeartMedia San Diego Rebrands, Moves Dial Position of XTRA 1360

BSM Staff
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iHeartMedia San Diego Rebrands, Moves Dial Position of XTRA 1360

iHeartMedia San Diego has announced a pair of AM stations will flip positions on the dial and undergo rebrands on Thursday, September 1st.

XTRA 1360 will move to 760 AM and be renamed San Diego Sports 760 with the KGB-AM call letters. KGB-AM features 5,000 watts during the day and 50,000 watts at night, providing a much larger signal for the station. KLSD-AM, the current home of XTRA 1360 has 5,000 daytime watts and just 1,000 watts at night.

“We are committed to delivering an audio sports platform with massive reach for our listeners and partners,” said Noreen Ippolito, President of iHeartMedia’s San Diego/Riverside Region. “Our goal is to reach fans wherever they are through the iHeartRadio App, KGB-FM HD2 simulcast, and on 760 AM’s massive day and night-time signal which can be heard all over the west coast.”

The timing of the flip coincides with the start of football season as the station is the broadcast partner of the San Diego State Aztecs. The university will play it’s first game from its new station in San Diego on Saturday.

San Diego Sports 760’s lineup will feature:
6 a.m. – 9 a.m.             Big Rich, TD & Fletch
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.          The Herd with Colin Cowherd
12 p.m. – 3 p.m.          Darren Smith and Marty
3 p.m. – 6 p.m.            Jon & Jim
6 p.m. – 6 a.m.            FOX Sports Radio

The Patriot 1360 AM will also debut on September 1st on KLSD-AM. The Patriot’s lineup will include the following programs:

4 a.m. – 6 a.m.             America In The Morning
6 a.m. – 9 a.m.             The Glenn Beck Program
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.          The Chad Benson Show
12 p.m. – 3 p.m.          The Dana Show
3 p.m. – 6 p.m.            The Jesse Kelly Show
6 p.m. – 10 p.m.          The Mark Levin Show 
10 p.m. – 4 a.m.          Red Eye Radio

Thom Brennaman Launches New Daily Show

BSM Staff
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It’s been nearly two years since Thom Brennaman resigned his post with the Cincinnati Reds and was dropped from his role with FOX. Since then, Brennaman has stated publicly that he has tried to learn from his mistake and hoped someone would give him a chance to broadcast again. It appears that opportunity has surfaced.

Brennaman announced that he is launching a daily show, Off the Bench, that will broadcast in partnership with Chatterbox Sports, a Cincinnati-based company. Brennaman said that he plans to blend national and local coverage with his new show.

“It’s going to have a combination, I hope, of a Dan Patrick/Pat McAfee/Colin Cowherd kind of thing,” Brennaman said. “We’ll have regular guests on, Brian Billick will be on every week to talk about the NFL, we’ve already lined up Cris Collinsworth to come on, Brent Musburger’s going to be on our first show, so we’ll have a national feel to some extent. But some of our sponsors here in greater Cincinnati are very excited about talking about the Bengals and Ohio State and University of Cincinnati football and the Cincinnati Reds, things like that.”

Brennaman spoke to Awful Announcing about how he hopes that people can forgive him at some point because he has learned from his mistake and has actively tried to grow from it.

“All I can do is what I’ve tried to do over the past two years, that’s learn and grow from the ignorant word I used in a flippant sort of way. And really, through my experiences and time with people in the gay community, I’ve learned a great deal. All you can do is the best you can do, and I’ve done that for two years, and I continue to learn and grow. I’m a better man today than the guy who sat up there in August of 2020, I’ll be a better broadcaster today than I was in August 2020 because of this whole experience and this whole journey. All I can do is ask people for forgiveness, a little bit of grace, and a second chance.”

Dave Portnoy on Jason Whitlock: ‘So Far Below Me In Every Facet of Life’

BNM Staff
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After turning his feud with Jason Whitlock down to a simmer, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy turned the heat back up with the release of his The Dave Portnoy Show with Eddie & Co. this week with comments he made about The Blaze host.

“Whitlock is so far below me. In every facet of life. It’s like, who cares, He really is. I’m more successful, I’m smarter, I’m funnier, I make more money, I’m not fat. No offense. What is the point of me even engaging? He’s a troll. Maybe the biggest ringing indictment of guys like him, like if I decided I wanted to have no morals like he does, and just try to build my career on inciting political people, I’d be the biggest thing of all time. It’s the easiest thing to do. He’s trying to do it. He’s just, so unfunny.”

The war of words began last week when Whitlock called Portnoy a fraud, saying he had “no redeeming qualities other than his wealth”. Portnoy responded simply by saying “You’re fat”.

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