The votes are in for the top college football broadcast teams of the 2024 season. We asked Awful Announcing readers to grade 25 teams across a wide selection of networks, and received responses from more than 1,000 voters, similar to last year’s numbers. Each team was graded from A to F, with readers providing many comments on individual teams as well.
As with our other rankings (NFL, MLB, and more), we then converted the letter grades from those asked-for responses to numerical grades, with A as 4 and Fs as 0, and ranked the announcing teams accordingly. The average grade was 2.45, or a C+, which would be between the 10th and 11th teams here. This is slightly below the 2.51 average grade for the 20 teams readers ranked last year.
Without further ado, let’s break these down.
25. Paul Burmeister/Colt McCoy (NBC/Peacock): 1.57
Most common grade: C (36.7 percent of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C/ votes: 53.5 percent
Despite our rankings going from 20 to 25 booths, this is actually a big step up for the lowest team. Last year, that was another NBC pairing, with the tandem of Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett (used mostly on Notre Dame games) averaging just a 1.12. NBC’s lineup has Collinsworth in other roles this year, occasionally calling college games but more regularly serving as a co-host of Sunday Night Football pregame show Football Night In America. Garrett is now partnered with returning voice Dan Hicks on ND broadcasts, and they’ll show up a little later here.
As for the comments here, many had praise for Burmeister but were harsher on rookie analyst McCoy, calling him everything from “a work in progress” to “rough” to “downright awful to listen to.” And that fits with the comments we’ve seen about him throughout this year. To his credit, McCoy has acknowledged his broadcasting work hasn’t been to the level he wants and has spoken about the challenges of adapting to that role.
24. Ari Wolfe/Darius Walker (truTV/Max): 1.87
Most common grade: C (54.8 percent of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C votes: 73.4 percent
TNT Sports made a big return to college football this year with a Mountain West package (plus two CFP games they’re sublicensing from ESPN), but their presentation isn’t winning over a ton of our readers. Their scorebug ranked five out of the seven considered this year, and their primary announcing team here (they also have J.B. Long and Mike Golic for doubleheaders, but that team wasn’t used frequently enough to make our top 25 cut here) came in second-to-last.
Still, a majority selection of C and 73 percent C or above isn’t terrible. And some voters quite liked them, noting things such as “Should be doing bigger games but you can tell the prep is there” and “Ari is solid – even better on arena football.” The most common comment here was that people hadn’t watched them, though, and the 609 votes they received was by far the lowest of any team on the ballot, so a lot of our respondents didn’t rank them at all.
23. Dan Hicks/Jason Garrett (NBC/Peacock): 1.87
Most common grade: C (35.5 percent of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C votes: 65.2 percent
This was almost a dead heat with Wolfe and Walker, but Hicks and Garrett squeaked it out 1.875 to 1.870. And, as mentioned, this is a notable improvement in Garrett’s year-over-year rankings; some of that definitely is about him teaming with Hicks rather than Collinsworth, but the experience can help as well.
Interestingly, more people gave Hicks and Garrett Ds and Fs (23.1 percent and 11.7 percent respectively) than the above TNT Sports team (19.2 and 7.3 percent); there are stronger likes or dislikes for this booth. And a lot of the strong dislikes seem to be about Garrett, with comments saying he “needs to Homer Simpson into the bushes,” “is like listening to paint dry,” and “has the personality of a lawn chair,” but even many of those praising Hicks.
22. Jordan Kent/Logan Ryan (CBSSN): 1.92
Most common grade: C (61.6 percent of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C votes: 79.0 percent
This team got the second-lowest number of votes (656), which makes sense with them mostly doing CBSSN games and not being seen by everyone. Indeed, there are probably some teams at ESPN and elsewhere that didn’t make our Top 25 cut that had their games seen by more people. However, Kent and Ryan were included here because of our guidelines for representing about half of each network’s linear announcers and featuring reasonably consistent teams. (The largest hurdles with that were at CBS, which often mixes and matches announcers, but Kent and Ryan worked together a fair bit, and Kent was listed third on their PBP depth chart behind Brad Nessler and Rich Waltz; also, that chart lists nine announcers, but only five to six were in action most weeks.)
As with the TNT Sports team, the main comments here were from people noting that they didn’t watch this booth, which fits the low number of votes. Of those who did watch, almost four in five gave this team a passing grade, but a lot of those were Cs. One notable comment called Kent “sneaky good,” but another one called this team “like drinking store brand Dr. Pepper.”
21. Brian Custer/Rod Gilmore (ESPN): 1.99
Most common grade: C (43.7 percent of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C votes: 73.5 percent
It’s worth mentioning the incredible amount of college football tonnage and announcing teams ESPN has. Their start-of-season release listed 26 linear announcing teams (including two conference network lead teams). We were only able to include nine ESPN/ABC teams and two conference network lead teams in this top 25, but that’s still much more than any other network group (Fox/FS1/BTN was second with six, CBS and NBC each got three, and truTV and The CW got one each). And there certainly can be debates about which ESPN teams deserved inclusion, especially right around our cut line. But Custer and Gilmore got the pick here due to consistency (it’s their second year together, and they called a game together most weeks) and relative prominence (they got a decent Power 4 game most weeks, most frequently on ESPN2).
This team got a significant passing grade, and there was quite a bit of praise for Custer in the comments. The regular discussions of him were as “solid” and “good,” although one respondent had him as “the worst PBP man in any sport.” Gilmore, however, has more critics, with lines like “He acts like he’s on a radio show, discussing national CFB topics more than the game he’s calling,” “he spends more time on his soapbox rather than calling the game in front of him,” and “he thinks everything is too risky.” But one respondent did call him “a calming voice who has great insight into football.”
20. Rich Waltz/Robert Turbin (CBSSN): 2.05
Most common grade: C (56.5 percent of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C votes: 81.1 percent
This was one of the most difficult teams to decide on, as Waltz (CBS’ No. 2 PBP voice behind Brad Nessler) also called a significant amount of Mountain West and service academy games on broadcast CBS with Ross Tucker, and those were higher-profile. However, he worked with Turbin (CBSSN’s lead analyst) more regularly, so we went with that pairing. Still, with them mostly working together on CBSSN, this got the third-lowest vote total (673) in our poll. (Waltz and Aaron Taylor ranked 18th of 20 here last year with a 2.01.)
Notably, this team got a higher percentage of passing votes than many of the teams above them. But they didn’t have many who really loved them, with only 4.5 percent of those who voted for them giving them an A. Comments included a lot of praise for Waltz, such as “the best ‘unknown’ guy out there,” “smooth cadence,” and “his voice is oddly soothing.” Turbin also received some praise for his knowledge of the Mountain West, the conference most often featured here. But the most-heard response was people not being aware of this booth, which fits with those low vote totals.
19. Thom Brennaman/Max Browne (The CW): 2.12
Most common grade: C (43.4 percent of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C votes: 77.6 percent
The CW took a big swing on college football this year, picking up the Raycom Sports-produced ACC games formerly shown on the Bally Sports regional networks as well as Oregon State and Washington State games. And they made quite a gamble by hiring Brennaman, who hadn’t done much on a national level since losing his NFL on Fox and Cincinnati Reds jobs in the wake of a 2020 homophobic slur on a hot mic during a Reds’ broadcast.
Brennaman did seem to do the work to improve, though, as per testimonials from many in the LGBTQ+ community. And he seemed thrilled to get this chance. And he produced some notable calls, even some referencing his past. And a lot of our readers were happy to see him back on a national stage, with this team also getting 7.8 percent A votes and 26.3 percent B votes.
Comments on this pairing included “A really good start to a comeback for Thom” and “Having Thom back has been great for the game,” although some others questioned his level of preparation and said he “relies too much on clichés.” Browne also won significant praise, including one commenter calling him “the industry’s hidden gem analyst.” (And yes, there were lots of Castellanos references in the comments as well.) There were many teams ahead of this booth, but this isn’t a bad result for a new network, a new pairing, and not the most prominent games.
18. Eric Collins/Spencer Tillman (Fox/FS1): 2.14
Most common grade: C (46.7 percent of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C votes: 79.8 percent
Collins’ calls certainly have been enthusiastic and notable, with him regularly getting noticed here. (That happens for his basketball work with the Charlotte Hornets, too.) This pairing got a good amount of B votes (27.3 percent). But 15 percent of respondents gave them a D, dragging down their score. This is, however, at least a slight bump for Collins (who, with Devin Gardner, ranked 19 of 20 teams here last year with a 2.01).
Some positive comments here included “Collins deserves higher-profile games” and “Collins has grown on me.” But others thought he “randomly yells throughout games.” Some praised Tillman and his pairing with Collins, but others preferred him on his previous team with Tim Brando. One particularly notable comment that seemed to sum up many feelings (at least of the C voters) was “C feels right. They are very exciting to listen too, both bring great energy and passion. I don’t think it’s a clean or crisp broadcast at all. I think when I hear these two I immediately think of a Big 12 shootout between Texas Tech and West Virginia going down to the wire. Exciting, and thrilling, but not necessarily my best option to watch.”
17. Mark Jones/Roddy Jones (ESPN): 2.16
Most common grade: B (34.9 percent of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C votes: 73.3 percent
We have our first B as the most common response! But this Jones/Jones team is definitely polarizing, with them also receiving 12.4 percent F votes, a higher number than many of the teams below them. And their percentage of passing grades was below every team below them except for the NBC pairings of Burmeister/McCoy and Hicks/Garrett. This is a slight drop for Mark Jones, who ranked 14th of 20 last year with Louis Riddick with a 2.29 (and also got a most-common grade of B there).
Comments here included a lot of praise for analyst Jones, such as “Roddy is a rising star and should be on bigger games,” “Grade is helped by Roddy,” and “Roddy is the better Jones.” Some did praise Mark Jones as well and liked him more in this pairing than in his previous one with Rod Gilmore. But there was a lot of criticism for him here, from “unbearable” to “the worst.” And, of particular note, a lot of the criticism was about some of his particularly pro-Colorado comments, such as “Mark Jones can’t stop praising Deion Sanders for two seconds.”
16. Jeff Levering/Jake Butt (BTN): 2.18
Most common grade: C (45.7 percent of votes)
Percentage of A/B/C votes: 81.3 percent
With this being another conference network team, it’s one that got a relatively low number of votes (700). But most who did vote found them at least passable, and their high number of B votes (29.4 percent) pushed them up this high. (Butt, with Cory Provus, was on the 15th-ranked of 20 teams last year, with a 2.16.)
A lot of the commentary here focused on Butt, who’s in his third year with BTN. One respondent said he “has the chance to be the next great color commentator” (as long as he keeps his Michigan affiliation in check), while others called him “a future star” and “a star in the making.” Levering got praise as a “pro,” while the team overall was praised for relatability and insight, but took some flak for switching topics too frequently in between-play discussions.
15. Tim Brando/Devin Gardner (Fox/FS1): 2.21
Most common grade: C (33.8 percent)
Percentage of A/B/C votes: 76.2 percent
As with Brando’s former boothmate in Tillman (now with Eric Collins, as seen above), this is another polarizing team. They got almost as many Bs (31.9 percent) as Cs, and 10.5 percent As, but received fewer passing grades of any sort than many of the booths below them. This is a drop for Brando, who got a 2.56 (ninth of 20 teams) with Tillman last year.
Some positive comments here included “Absolute professionals. Their love of the game shines through” and “Excellent insight and great anticipation.” And there was some praise for this new partnership, with some citing “good interplay between the two” and “somehow this odd couple works.” Both Gardner and Brando got some praise on their own as well. But there were also a lot of respondents who liked one and disliked the other. The most commonly-heard refrain here was that Brando has “lost his fastball”; not all of the commenters agreed with that, with some giving Brando significant praise, but a lot of people mentioned it.
14. Connor Onion/Mark Helfrich (Fox/FS1): 2.23
Most common grade: C (44.3 percent)
Percentage of A/B/C votes: 82.5 percent
Contrast this team to the above Brando/Gardner one, and you see how dramatically different inputs can produce similar overall grades. There were many less strong opinions on this team, with them only getting 6.5 percent A votes and 4.0 percent F votes (compared to 10.5 and 8.2 percent respectively). But that good percentage of C votes and passing votes put them in a slightly higher spot than Brando and Gardner. (Interestingly enough, this duo only got 731 votes overall, somewhat surprising considering the amount of high-profile Fox games they’ve worked, especially on Friday nights. But maybe they weren’t memorable voices for some watching.)
Onion got a lot of praise in the comments, including “future star” and “a star in the making.” Helfrich got some praise for his analysis, but some criticism for his voice and style, with multiple people saying he mumbles. Overall, a comment of “Sneakily this team has called big games in big moments and nailed the Fox Friday Night experiment; Onion a great add by Fox” seems like a good fit here.
13. Anish Shroff/Andre Ware (ESPN): 2.29
Most common grade: C (41.4 percent)
Percentage of A/B/C votes: 84.5 percent
This is another team that didn’t get a ton of votes (766), and that makes some sense with them not often working the highest-priority ESPN games. But those who did weigh in considered them similarly to the Onion/Helfrich team above, with even more passing grades. They got a lot of B votes in particular (36.8 percent).
There weren’t a ton of comments on this team, either. But many of the ones that were left were criticizing Ware, including “Andre Ware has been calling games a long time and still isn’t a very good listen.” Some liked him, but they were a distinct minority. There was more praise for Shroff, though, including one commenter saying he’s “always been underrated” and another calling him a “star on the rise.” (Multiple people said Shroff sounds like Steve Levy; whether that’s praise or criticism may depend on one’s opinion of Levy.)
12. Wes Durham/Tom Luginbill (ACCN): 2.35
Most common grade: C (43.9 percent)
Percentage of A/B/C votes: 85.8 percent
This team comes from a big offseason change, with Luginbill moving from his past field analyst role to a more standard booth spot for his 20th year at ESPN and taking Tim Hasselbeck’s spot opposite key ACCN voice Durham. Interestingly, this booth got exactly the same numerical grade as Durham and Hasselbeck did last year, but that only got them 13th of 20 last season. So this is at least a relative step up. (There were only 732 votes here, which makes sense considering ACCN’s lesser distribution relative to some other networks.)
Of those who did vote and comment, there was a fair bit of high praise for this team. One respondent said they’re “easily the best and knowledgeable ACCN announcers on the network,” while another had them as “two of the game’s most underused broadcasters” and a third had them as “a sneaky good crew.” Durham in particular drew particular praise as “the GOAT,” “an ACC legend,” and “a fountain of knowledge,” while Luginbill got some plaudits as “a welcome upgrade over Hasselbeck.” A notable overall comment here was “These guys know their league well and it shows. A strength of having league-specific networks.”
11. Matt Barrie/Dan Mullen (ESPN): 2.37
Most common grade: C (44.6 percent)
Percentage of A/B/C votes: 88.9 percent
This is a big jump up for the Barrie/Mullen pairing (often heard on ESPN Thursday games), as they were 17th of 20 booths with a 2.06 last year. The percentage of C votes year-to-year was identical (to one decimal place), though, so the key change here was in the Bs. Last year, that was 26.1 percent of their votes, but this year, it rose to 36.6 percent. And that helped them get a higher percentage of passing grades than anyone below them. However, they did pull in just 7.8 percent A grades, below several of the booths further down.
A lot of the individual commentary here was critical of Barrie, including “a bit full of himself,” “voice is way too high,” and “unwatchable as a play-caller.” Mullen got more individual praise as “really good” and “better than Barrie.” But quite a few comments were praising the team overall, such as “light and fun,” “knowledgeable and entertaining,” and “they have fun without forcing it.”
