The votes have been tallied, the scores have been tabulated, and Awful Announcing’s readers have voted on their favorite and least favorite college football broadcast teams.
We put 20 broadcasting teams up for voting across several different networks, and you delivered over 20,000 votes.
The average grade for the 20 teams was 2.51, which was a hair lower than the score of our tenth-ranked team.
If you’d like to look at the vote totals and percentages for all 20 teams, click here.
Without any further ado, here are the rankings.
20. Jac Collinsworth, Jason Garrett (NBC) – 1.12
Most common grade: F (37.07% of votes)
Breakdown: The only broadcast team we’ve seen get a score this low is the infamous Joe Tessitore/Booger McFarland/Jason Witten Monday Night Football crew back in 2018. That in and of itself is damning. But overall, there weren’t even many positive vibes for this team. Their percentage of A and B grades was less than half of the team ranked directly ahead of them, and their percentage of F grades was nearly four times higher than the second-highest percentage. This is the second season that Collinsworth and Garrett have called Notre Dame games together, and there will need to be a major step up in year three (if it even gets to that point).
19. Eric Collins, Devin Gardner (Fox) – 2.007
Most common grade: C (50.16% of votes)
Breakdown: Collins is better known for his work calling basketball, and he typically calls lower-profile football games for Fox with Gardner. This pair doesn’t particularly stand out from the pack at Fox, and seems like another one of those crews that work together week in and week out and get the job done.
18. Rich Waltz, Aaron Taylor (CBS) – 2.009
Most common grade: C (50.55% of votes)
Breakdown: Waltz and Taylor fall under the radar at CBS, but fall into that “unspectacular” boat. They had the second-lowest percentage of A grades and third-lowest of B grades and were one of two teams to crack the 50% mark in C grades. “Low ceiling, high floor” isn’t an insult, and it sums up Waltz and Taylor pretty well.
17. Matt Barrie, Dan Mullen (ESPN) – 2.06
Most common grade: C (44.59% of votes)
Breakdown: ESPN’s primary Thursday night team didn’t get a lot of love from our viewers. Mullen might not even be long for the analyst world with him consistently linked to coaching opportunities. These two work better together in the studio than on live game coverage, and that’s a far better fit for them going forward.
16. Alex Faust, Petros Papadakis (Fox) – 2.161
Most common grade: C (41.22% of votes)
Breakdown: Honestly, I’m surprised these two rank as high as they do. Faust and Papadakis will often call games from the studio for Fox, and our readers absolutely despise it. Faust is young and has a lot of potential and Papadakis is what he is, but I feel like these guys would benefit more from working fewer games and doing them in person.
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15. Cory Provus, Jake Butt (Big Ten Network) – 2.162
Most common grade: C (46.68% of votes)
Breakdown: This season, the Big Ten Network has paired up analysts and play-by-play broadcasters willy-nilly from two different pools, but the Provus and Butt duo seems like it was getting the most reps and worked the network’s biggest games. Provus has more experience than the younger Butt, and it would suit everyone better if BTN let them work together each week to build chemistry.
14. Mark Jones, Louis Riddick (ESPN) – 2.29
Most common grade: B (34.16% of votes)
Breakdown: People really don’t like Mark Jones, as the comments and third-highest percentage of F grades can attest to. This is the first season Jones and Riddick have worked together, and the results have been mixed. Riddick is fine as an analyst, but he seems to be a bit too low-key to be working with Jones.
13. Wes Durham, Tim Hasselbeck (ACC Network) – 2.35
Most common grade: C (43.21% of votes)
Breakdown: Durham and Hasselbeck might be the definition of steady and unspectacular in their first year working together. They’re not going to light the world on fire, but they’ll call a professional game and get the job done.
12. Dave Flemming, Brock Osweiler (ESPN) – 2.37
Most common grade: C (43.10% of votes)
Breakdown: While Flemming is a pro in the booth, Osweiler is still pretty raw and has room to grow. There’s enough there for him to keep at it and improving, and ESPN put him in a low-stress position by mainly calling later games on Saturday nights. Another year of reps can only be a good thing going forward.
11. Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers, Cole Cubelic (SEC Network) – 2.43
Most common grade: C (38.13% of votes)
Breakdown: Cubelic works as a sideline analyst and reporter for this team, which might have impacted the overall score here. This trio oozes chemistry and works very well together, but falls under the radar due to being on SEC Network.
10. Bob Wischusen, Robert Griffin III (ESPN) – 2.54
Most common grade: B (38.71% of votes)
Breakdown: As a broadcaster, RGIII isn’t for everyone, but he definitely adds something different to the games he works with Wischusen. There has been enough promise in his game work to rank in the middle of the pack this year, which is also a testament to the strong work of Wischusen.
9. Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman (Fox) – 2.56
Most common grade: B (36.43% of votes)
Breakdown: There wasn’t much of a consensus on Brando and Tillman, with the pair racking up at least 20% of A, B, and C grades and crossing the 15% mark combined on D and F. The chemistry that Brando and Tillman have together may be unmatched due to their years of working together, and that sort of partnership is incredibly valuable and can’t be formed overnight.
8. Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt (Fox) – 2.71
Most common grade: A (37.48% of votes)
Breakdown: There was no more polarizing team on our list than Fox’s A-team of Johnson and Klatt. They finished with the fourth-highest percentage of A grades, but the second-highest of F grades. Their broadcasts together have their highs and lows, and this seems like about the right spot for them.
7. Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek (ESPN) – 2.74
Most common grade: B (50.70% of votes)
Breakdown: This team received the highest percentage of B grades of all the teams in our rankings, and also had the lower share of F grades. That’s the sign of a pretty well-regarded game. Pasch has long been a favorite of our readers, and there isn’t much he can do wrong when behind the mic. Pasch and Dvoracek have been together for three seasons now, and ESPN would be wise to keep them together.
6. Joe Tessitore, Jesse Palmer (ESPN) – 2.75
Most common grade: B (46.17% of votes)
Breakdown: Tessitore just works better as a college football announcer, and we’re thrilled he’s back after his brief exodus to the NFL and Monday Night Football. As for Palmer, he wears a lot of hats in and out of the college football world, but his work as an analyst is still receiving positive marks. Given he’s been a studio analyst for the last several years, his performance has been impressive this season.
5. Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge (NBC) – 2.89
Most common grade: B (46.13% of votes)
Breakdown: While NBC’s Notre Dame team ranked at the bottom of our list, NBC’s new Big Ten team cracked the top five in their first year together. Pairing the experienced Blackledge with the younger, more raw Eagle was a smart move, and there will be plenty of room for the Eagle and Blackledge pairing to grow next season.
4. Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson (CBS) – 2.99
Most common grade: B (32.56% of votes)
Breakdown: Nessler has seamlessly stepped in for Verne Lundquist calling the SEC on CBS, and his work alongside Danielson continues to earn positive reviews. It remains to be seen if they’ll call Big Ten games next season on CBS (though we’re assuming they will be), but it’s hard to see CBS doing much better than these two if the network opts for a change.
3. Jason Benetti, Brock Huard (Fox) – 3.17
Most common grade: A (46.86% of votes)
Breakdown: We talk a lot about the various on-air talents hired by Fox away from ESPN, and these are two of the best (and, somehow, most underappreciated). The Benetti and Huard pairing has stepped right into the role of Fox’s #2 team and wouldn’t be out of place calling the weekend’s best game for the network.
2. Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy (ESPN) – 3.3078
Most common grade: A (47.73% of votes)
Breakdown: So close, yet so far. McDonough and McElroy came oh so close to topping our rankings this year, but came up a hair short. The pairing works quite well together, and ESPN was more than adequately able to replace Blackledge when he left the company earlier this year. Here’s hoping this team sticks around for the long haul.
1. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit (ESPN) – 3.3080
Most common grade: A (53.81% of votes)
Breakdown: I don’t think we’ve ever had to go down to four decimal places to settle a tie before, let alone settle a tie for the top spot. But Fowler and Herbstreit slid by McDonough and McElroy by the slimmest of margins, reigning supreme as the top college football broadcast team as voted on by Awful Announcing’s readers.
