Fox and college football initially went together like oil and water. Its coverage of the BCS between 2006 and 2009 was, to put it politely, horrific.
When Fox reemerged in the college football world in 2012, fans had reason to be wary. However, over the past couple of years, the network has stepped up by not only televising big games, but doing so in a manner that didn’t enrage college football fans.
This year, Fox is taking things up a notch. They’ve launched a new pregame show. They’ve poached ESPN talent. They’re focusing on a new timeslot. It should be a fascinating season, for those interested in the media side of college football.
With the season about to kickoff, let’s look at what the good and bad, if not ugly, for the upcoming season
Good: The Big Noon concept
Do Fox execs read my blog? I argued passionately that the death of the noon game in college football was bad for the sport. Every network had lined up to put its best game in primetime, except for CBS and its weekly 3:30 p.m. SEC game. It led to way many too many Saturday nights where my remote was on the verge of exploding after a noon window filled with blowouts.
Fox correctly identified this window as a place to make an impact, as ABC’s Saturday Night Football along with ESPN’s primetime games, usually SEC games, were trouncing them in the ratings.
As a college football fan, it will make Saturdays much more enjoyable to have top games spread out during the day. It should also pay dividends for Fox as fans settle into a routine of Fox at noon, CBS at 330 and ABC/ESPN in primetime.
Bad: Odd primetime games
Despite everything I just wrote, Fox is still planning to air games in primetime on their broadcast station. For Pac-12 games, like Oklahoma at UCLA in week three, it makes total sense. Fox will have more than one good game every week to air, so why not air them in primetime?
On the flip side, the primetime game in week 2 is Buffalo at Penn State. Why? It will get crushed in the ratings and the people attending are stuck with a night game that is unnecessary.
In week 1, with a weak slate, Fox passed on a primetime game on Saturday night. That should be their rule of thumb: if there’s a game worth airing in primetime, then air it, but if there’s not, skip the week.
Good: The 2005 Pregame Crew
I watched a good portion of the Fox season preview show and came away instantly impressed with the performances of Brady Quinn, Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart. It was a quality trio of younger analysts, who all starred in that epic 2005 Notre Dame/USC game.
What I like most about their relative youth is they understand the game much, much better than older, former players, like most on ESPN. Does Joey Galloway really understand what today’s players deal with? He played at Ohio State in a different lifetime. But this trio understands, almost too well, the trappings of fame that accompanies college football stars in the social media age.
Bad: Urban Meyer
Yikes. During the preview show, as the other analysts were coming through with pretty detailed and interesting observations, Urban added just about nothing. He kicked off a discussion about the Pac-12 by saying he coached against USC and Washington the previous two years, and then talked about how USC had good linemen in 2005. Huh?
When Urban Meyer worked for ESPN, he was the third man in the booth, to discuss X’s and O’s from a coaching perspective. He wasn’t the best, but he was decent in the role.
Fox needs to send Urban out to games in the booth and let their young stars be the face of the pregame show.
Good: An NFL style pregame show
I love College Gameday. But it doesn’t need to be three hours. While I appreciate their approach to covering personal stories and the pageantry of college football, there could be more detailed analysis of the games being played.
I only really watch the end of College Gameday, where the focus shifts to the games and who is going win. By producing an hour-long pregame show, Fox can streamline its focus and get a nice, tight rhythm going before the games start.
Bad: An NFL style pregame show
Is this what college football fans want to kick off their Saturday mornings? While I would appreciate a tighter College Gameday, I don’t really need another Fox NFL Kickoff with yucks for an hour and dumb bits to pass the time.
Fox will need to figure out, somehow, to thread the needle between what works for College Gameday and what works for Howie, Terry and crew on Sundays. I am doubtful that they’ll figure out the formula.
Good: Brock Huard and Joel Klatt
Klatt has been the #1 color analyst since they started airing college football, and he has been a tremendous addition to the college football landscape. You could argue he is the best color commentator in the sport, up there with Kirk Herbstreit and, yes, Gary Danielson.
The addition of Brock Huard was a surprising one, only because I thought he was one of ESPN’s best. It was a sneaky good hire by Fox that went way under the radar, and could help them to develop a full roster of analysts and commentators that carry gravitas with them, so it doesn’t feel like a FS1 broadcast is the JV squad.
Bad: Self-aware Gus Johnson
I miss the old Gus Johnson. Gus rose to fame at CBS, particularly during the NCAA Tournament, for correctly identifying the big moments of a game and letting his emotion get the best of him. It was pure unadulterated joy, that made his games mean that much more. Of course, the game needed to excel to get Gus to scream, and that was the point.
Then “screaming Gus” became a meme and it’s obvious Gus Johnson figured this out. Now, he doesn’t just yell for big, game-defining plays. He’s now losing his voice over third down sacks in the first quarter. It feels forced and distracts from the plays when he should be screaming, because we’ve already heard him scream for three hours.
The Verdict? To Be Determined
I don’t know if this is truly a make or break season for Fox college football, but it is a critical one as they tried to encroach on ESPN’s dominance.
We’ll see how their plans pan out, and what changes they’ll eventually make by mid-season. Fox Sports has not been my favorite over the years, yet I am cautiously optimistic they may do right by my favorite sport.
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This year, Fox is taking things up a notch. They’ve launched a new pregame show. They’ve poached ESPN talent. They’re focusing on a new timeslot. It should be a fascinating season, for those interested in the media side of college football.
With the season about to kickoff, let’s look at what the good and bad, if not ugly, for the upcoming season
Good: The Big Noon concept
Do Fox execs read my blog? I argued passionately that the death of the noon game in college football was bad for the sport. Every network had lined up to put its best game in primetime, except for CBS and its weekly 3:30 p.m. SEC game. It led to way many too many Saturday nights where my remote was on the verge of exploding after a noon window filled with blowouts.
Fox correctly identified this window as a place to make an impact, as ABC’s Saturday Night Football along with ESPN’s primetime games, usually SEC games, were trouncing them in the ratings.
As a college football fan, it will make Saturdays much more enjoyable to have top games spread out during the day. It should also pay dividends for Fox as fans settle into a routine of Fox at noon, CBS at 330 and ABC/ESPN in primetime.
Bad: Odd primetime games
Despite everything I just wrote, Fox is still planning to air games in primetime on their broadcast station. For Pac-12 games, like Oklahoma at UCLA in week three, it makes total sense. Fox will have more than one good game every week to air, so why not air them in primetime?
On the flip side, the primetime game in week 2 is Buffalo at Penn State. Why? It will get crushed in the ratings and the people attending are stuck with a night game that is unnecessary.
In week 1, with a weak slate, Fox passed on a primetime game on Saturday night. That should be their rule of thumb: if there’s a game worth airing in primetime, then air it, but if there’s not, skip the week.
Good: The 2005 Pregame Crew
I watched a good portion of the Fox season preview show and came away instantly impressed with the performances of Brady Quinn, Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart. It was a quality trio of younger analysts, who all starred in that epic 2005 Notre Dame/USC game.
What I like most about their relative youth is they understand the game much, much better than older, former players, like most on ESPN. Does Joey Galloway really understand what today’s players deal with? He played at Ohio State in a different lifetime. But this trio understands, almost too well, the trappings of fame that accompanies college football stars in the social media age.
Bad: Urban Meyer
Yikes. During the preview show, as the other analysts were coming through with pretty detailed and interesting observations, Urban added just about nothing. He kicked off a discussion about the Pac-12 by saying he coached against USC and Washington the previous two years, and then talked about how USC had good linemen in 2005. Huh?
When Urban Meyer worked for ESPN, he was the third man in the booth, to discuss X’s and O’s from a coaching perspective. He wasn’t the best, but he was decent in the role.
Fox needs to send Urban out to games in the booth and let their young stars be the face of the pregame show.
Good: An NFL style pregame show
I love College Gameday. But it doesn’t need to be three hours. While I appreciate their approach to covering personal stories and the pageantry of college football, there could be more detailed analysis of the games being played.
I only really watch the end of College Gameday, where the focus shifts to the games and who is going win. By producing an hour-long pregame show, Fox can streamline its focus and get a nice, tight rhythm going before the games start.
Bad: An NFL style pregame show
Is this what college football fans want to kick off their Saturday mornings? While I would appreciate a tighter College Gameday, I don’t really need another Fox NFL Kickoff with yucks for an hour and dumb bits to pass the time.
Fox will need to figure out, somehow, to thread the needle between what works for College Gameday and what works for Howie, Terry and crew on Sundays. I am doubtful that they’ll figure out the formula.
Good: Brock Huard and Joel Klatt
Klatt has been the #1 color analyst since they started airing college football, and he has been a tremendous addition to the college football landscape. You could argue he is the best color commentator in the sport, up there with Kirk Herbstreit and, yes, Gary Danielson.
Bad: Self-aware Gus Johnson
I miss the old Gus Johnson. Gus rose to fame at CBS, particularly during the NCAA Tournament, for correctly identifying the big moments of a game and letting his emotion get the best of him. It was pure unadulterated joy, that made his games mean that much more. Of course, the game needed to excel to get Gus to scream, and that was the point.
Then “screaming Gus” became a meme and it’s obvious Gus Johnson figured this out. Now, he doesn’t just yell for big, game-defining plays. He’s now losing his voice over third down sacks in the first quarter. It feels forced and distracts from the plays when he should be screaming, because we’ve already heard him scream for three hours.
The Verdict? To Be Determined
I don’t know if this is truly a make or break season for Fox college football, but it is a critical one as they tried to encroach on ESPN’s dominance.
We’ll see how their plans pan out, and what changes they’ll eventually make by mid-season. Fox Sports has not been my favorite over the years, yet I am cautiously optimistic they may do right by my favorite sport.
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