A problem with made-for-TV announcement shows, whether drafts or bracket reveals, is that the information on what’s about to be shown on air is often reported before the TV show gets to it. The latest case of that came Sunday, with Action Network’s Brett McMurphy posting on X that the College Football Playoff committee had chosen the SMU Mustangs over the Alabama Crimson Tide for the 12th and final CFP berth, and doing so a minute before ESPN’s CFP reveal show started and more than half an hour before they revealed the bracket:
Breaking: SMU is in @CFBPlayoff and Alabama is out, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 8, 2024
The College Football Playoff 12-team field is revealed on ESPN. 🏈📺🎙️🏆 #CFP pic.twitter.com/eF6WxN6OZg
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 8, 2024
Unsurprisingly, as with many pick-tipping or bracket leak discussions, that prompted some replies criticizing McMurphy for putting the news (on what was the crucial debate here, and one that could have gone either way) out before the made-for-TV special got to announcing it. And if he was still at ESPN, it seems unlikely that he would have been allowed to post this (especially with the way that network has gone against NFL Draft pick-tipping, and even dialed down the once-common NBA Draft pick-tipping).
But McMurphy (who was laid off by ESPN in 2017) doesn’t work for a rightsholder, and has no responsibility to promote ESPN’s TV show. He can determine for himself if the value of getting the news out quickly to those looking for it is worth the backlash from people who don’t want the TV show “spoiled.” And he made that call here, to the benefit of those who value news as it happens versus news as revealed on TV.
[Brett McMurphy on X]
