There are a lot of good things about Fox’s college football coverage, but one thing the network shouldn’t hang its hat on is its ability to make easily digestible graphics.
In consecutive weeks, Fox has taken a look at Pac-12 rivalry matchups that include Washington vs. Oregon and USC vs. Utah. In an attempt to get engagement with their social media audiences, they’ve listed out the last 10 results in both matchups, while using the same tweet format and copy in both tweets.
That’s all well and good. But it’s the way the graphics are laid out that has been cause for confusion and concern. See for yourself.
https://twitter.com/CFBONFOX/status/1714008311060947346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1714008311060947346%7Ctwgr%5E405283d407bab45baabde246b96aa1d95137cf5c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FCFBONFOX2Fstatus2F1714008311060947346widget%3DTweet
In theory, it’s a good idea that give fans an opportunity to see the matchup from a much larger vantage point. However, the graphics are an absolute eyesore. If you can focus long enough to look at all 10 results, then more power to you. But I started to get a headache after just going through a couple.
There’s no organization and no rhyme or reason to the graphic. The layout is confusing and it’s like a maze to get through the results.
Don’t just take our word for it, plenty of people on social media had similar reactions. By comparison, we were a bit more tame in some of our criticisms.
I couldn’t make a more confusing graphic if I tried https://t.co/glU93F6KKH
— Championship Connoisseur (@UMvsEveryone) October 16, 2023
Big "graphic design is my passion" energy https://t.co/7eyAVMiob6
— Lundy – Certified Skannoisseur (@SkaLundy) October 16, 2023
I'd like to see what this actually shows, but the graphic isn't great.
For those that can't read it like me, Utah is 6-4 over the last 10 games against USC.
I'm still dizzy looking at this https://t.co/ctQujx69BD
— Josh Furlong (@JFurKSL) October 16, 2023
Fix your awful layout for these. Please. It’s terrible. Everyone has told you. You have people. Do it
— Doug (@DouglasTS) October 16, 2023
A lot of the criticisms about the layout were apparent in last week’s version, but it doesn’t seem like those resonated with Fox’s social media team. Perhaps these are already premade and prescheduled? Or maybe the confusion is the point.
Last week’s Oregon-Washington graphic was just as bad, if not worse.
https://twitter.com/CFBONFOX/status/1712151077737443756?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1712151077737443756%7Ctwgr%5E1bedd96448a09a14727283b26b21fee8e6675122%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FCFBONFOX2Fstatus2F1712151077737443756widget%3DTweet
And so were the subsequent replies.
This is so needlessly hard to follow https://t.co/V3DP1MsAUG
— Chris Novak (@ChrisMNovak) October 11, 2023
https://twitter.com/MegaQuack69/status/1712158809630667215?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1712158809630667215%7Ctwgr%5Eac7cddd8fa746f1b30399eed5535435254b4de9a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FMegaQuack692Fstatus2F1712158809630667215widget%3DTweet
This is the most oddly arranged graphic you could possibly have come up with
— Doug (@DouglasTS) October 11, 2023
you could have formatted this chart a thousand different ways and you chose the most confusing way possible. https://t.co/tggLdMU8Ll
— PUDDLES (@scoduckz) October 11, 2023
If you’re looking for how Pac-12 opponents have fared against one another the past 10 times, we suggest that you look elsewhere, unless you enjoy being dizzy.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.