Pat McAfee’s unpredictable, entertaining and often hilarious antics and comments on ESPN’s College GameDay have helped drive the show’s success through the years.
The analyst showed up in rare form Saturday in Columbus as he previewed the No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Indiana game.
Host Rece Davis set the stage for McAfee with a dramatic but solemn intro showing images of Ohio Stadium, fans, mentioning past Buckeyes greats, etc.
Rece Davis with the College GameDay intro to get ready for Indiana-Ohio State in Columbus. 🏈📺🎙️pic.twitter.com/mBHdzRz5Ld
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 23, 2024
McAfee then came along and cranked things up to 11.
“If you were going to write a script about a movie, about a football game, that would have implications on the sport for the next 20-30 years, you couldn’t script one better than we have here …” McAfee began.
We could stop right here and debate that at length. No one even seems to know where college football is going in the next five years, given all the uncertainties with conference realignment, huge NIL deals, rampant transfers, etc., let alone 30 years down the road.
But McAfee kept going, talking about the rich tradition at Ohio State, where winning is part of the culture.
“And then in comes a team from Bloomington, Indiana,” McAfee said. “A team that has been awakened from the depths of hell of college football, an island of misfit toys, a group of people that were outcasts, not desirable, not looking forward to having a DI football career.”
McAfee somehow even managed to troll the MAC, where Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke began his college career with the Ohio Bobcats.
“The quarterback, he’s a former MAC player of the year. The MAC’s cute — in the middle of the week . Let’s get to the big games in the weekend.”
Everyone on the CGD set laughed at McAfee’s MAC jab.
Then McAfee talked about Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti’s unlikely path to college football success.
“Then he would come to Indiana with next to no money, no NIL, no facilities, and turn ’em into a juggernaut, inspired to take over this college football world, and come into The Horseshoe in November and beat the Ohio State Buckeyes’ ass!”
That last part obviously didn’t go over well with Buckeyes fans behind the set.
Pat McAfee follows it up with the Indiana-Ohio State hype speech. 🏈📺🎙️ #CollegeGameDay pic.twitter.com/tOZPFDBnS1 https://t.co/bdmkd925Yl
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 23, 2024
McAfee delivered his preview with all the fire of a coach preparing his team for a playoff game.
“That’s what today is, it’s the haves and the have nots, it’s the greatest thing that could happen in the entire world, college football is electrifying, and today is a massive deal,” McAfee concluded.
Did McAfee lay it on a bit too thick in the intro? Perhaps. But one of his roles is to hype the sport, and it’s hard to imagine a casual fan seeing his preview not feel compelled to watch the game.
[ESPN]
