We know college football is almost upon us because ESPN has released their announcing assignments for the coming season. Earlier this year it was announced Pam Ward would not return to ESPN's college football coverage. No Pam Ward and no Craig James means half of AA's Mount Rushmore is gone from ESPN's announcing lineup and the 2012 Pammies will be wide open. While those departures are a victory for college football fans, you knew there had to be at least one change made in the lineup sure to bring consternation. ESPN is breaking up the popular Joe Tessitore-Rod Gilmore pairing and giving Tessitore a new partner. Let's hope he doesn't have to call any Penn State games this year….
Notes:
*What did Joe Tessitore do to deserve this fate, cruel universe!! Sure, a move from Friday night to Saturday night can be seen as an upward one… but Matt Millen? Really?? Why would ESPN break up one of its most well-liked broadcast pairs regardless of sport? Furthermore, why would ESPN stick Millen in primetime after the offseason he's had? (Answer: the same reason they gave Craig James not one but two games last year.) It's baffling. For that matter, there isn't a lot of room for two games in primetime unless the first game starts at 5:00 ET or 5:30 ET, and that's hardly "primetime." More of an early evening slot.
*Gilmore stays on Friday nights with new partner Carter Blackburn… and sideline reporter Jemele Hill? It'll be interesting to see how she fits into that new role, which has got to be better than sitting across from Skip Bayless.
*Jenn Brown is NOT getting the glamorous ABC primetime sideline reporting position. Instead, she's buried on the Noon ET ESPN telecast with Dave Pasch and Brian Griese, which isn't exactly a prime spot. Perhaps it's a sign that ESPN is hedging their bets with the lady considered "the next Erin Andrews" or making sure she doesn't become too big for ESPN's own good like EA, who left for Fox. The sideline spot in primetime is curiously still open.
*We knew David Pollack was replacing Craig James on Thursday nights, but who would replace Senator James on Saturday afternoons? The answer is Ed Cunningham… which makes sense, because he hates Mike Leach too. Continuing the domino effect, Brock Huard takes Cunningham's place in the ESPN2 primetime booth alongside Mark Jones. Danny Kanell also moves up to ABC Saturday afternoon regional coverage as does Chris Spielman, who reunites with Sean McDonough. Of all the new combos, the McDonough-Spielman pairing strikes me as the best.
*Former Ohio State WR Joey Galloway is the newest ESPN college football analyst. He replaces Mike Bellotti after a cup of coffee in the booth alongside Beth Mowins for the noon ESPN2 kickoff. Bellotti's got to wonder how Dan Hawkins lasted longer than he did.
*The top of ESPN's college football lineup stays the same with Brent Musburger & Kirk Herbstreit on ABC and Brad Nessler & Todd Blackledge on ESPN. Brent & Herbie are the #1 team in college football, but Nessler & Blackledge aren't far behind. It's fair to say ESPN has the two best announcing duos in college football and in spite of Musburger's age, they should be fixtures at the top of the sport for most of the next decade.
