While College GameDay won’t arrive for another week, ESPN still had a pregame show with College Football Countdown ahead of Week Zero action on Saturday. Like College GameDay, College Football Countdown was hosted by Rece Davis, and Davis took a playful jab at Big Ten fans following a report from ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel.
Thamel was finishing up a report on the talent and upside of the No. 2 Penn State Nittany Lions in 2025 when he noted “three cupcakes” to open the season for Penn State.
“They play Nevada, FIU, and Villanova, a very similar schedule to what Michigan had two years ago on their way to a title, and Ohio State had last year,” Thamel said. “Three cupcakes to find yourself before Big Ten starts.”
Davis followed with a response mocking Big Ten fans on the idea that the conference could ever play cupcakes on the schedule.
“Oh, Pete, how dare you,” Davis said jokingly. “You know only the SEC plays cupcakes! I read about it from the Big Ten fans on the X machine!”
Rece Davis: “Oh, Pete, how dare you! You know only the SEC plays cupcakes! I read about it from the Big Ten fans on the X machine!” https://t.co/Z1TI08d3hv pic.twitter.com/7mj0K2DEyl
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 23, 2025
“A couple of really vaunted non-conference schedules coming out of the Big Ten here,” ESPN analyst Roddy Jones added.
“Look, I don’t want to go down this rabbit hole for the committee,” Davis said. “I don’t care about your conference schedule or your non-conference schedule. The committee should look at the 12 games, or 13; look at the whole thing. Is it good? Is it bad? What is it ranked? What is it?”
The SEC (a media rights agreement with ESPN) and Big Ten (a media rights agreement with Fox, CBS, and NBC) wars have officially started, and before College GameDay and Big Noon Kickoff even begin this season.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at Awful Announcing and The Comeback.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@awfulannouncing.com.