I have definitely been wrong in some ways regarding the number of ACC football talking heads on ESPN. I would still argue, that the difference between face time, influence, etc of say Paul F. and other SEC talking heads up against say Dave Pasch from Syracuse is still MASSIVE for football.
The biggest ACC talking head was Danny K. and he got canned. Still great info and solid points.
https://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/2018/07/2018-espn-broadcast-lineup.html
I've heard it many times from fans who think ESPN favors the SEC at the expense of the ACC in terms of coverage - and those fans have solid evidence to back up that claim, at least in the past. One reason cited for this disparity is that ESPN simply has had too many SEC alumni - and too few ACC alumni.
However, with the recent shake-up at ESPN, lots of highly-paid long-time employees were laid off, and some cheaper young guns were hired. Here is the broadcast crew lineup for 2018:
Game/Network Commentators (and their alma maters):
ABC Saturday Night Football
- Chris Fowler Pac Colorado
- Kirk Herbstreit B1G Ohio St
- Maria Taylor SEC Georgia
ESPN Saturday Night Primetime
- Sean McDonough ACC Syracuse
- Todd Blackledge B1G Penn St
- Holly Rowe Pac Utah
ESPN or ABC Saturday
- Steve Levy n/a SUNY-Oswego
- Brian Griese B1G Michigan
- Todd McShay n/a Richmond
ESPN or ABC Saturday
- Dave Pasch ACC Syracuse
- Greg McElroy SEC Alabama
- Tom Luginbill ACC Ga Tech
ESPN or ABC Saturday
- Bob Wischusen ACC Boston College
- Brock Huard Pac Washington
- Allison Williams n/a Yale
ESPN or ABC Saturday
- Adam Amin n/a Valparaiso
- Rod Gilmore Pac Stanford
- Quint Kessenich n/a Johns Hopkins
ESPN or ABC Saturday
- Mark Jones n/a York University
- Dusty Dvoracek XII Oklahoma
- Molly McGrath ACC Boston College
ESPN or ABC Saturday
- Beth Mowins ACC Syracuse
- Anthony Becht XII WVU
- Rocky Boiman IND Notre Dame
ESPN Thursday
- Dave Flemming ACC Syracuse
- TBD
- Laura Rutledge SEC Florida
ESPN or ESPN2 Friday
- Jason Benetti ACC Syracuse/Wake
- Kelly Stouffer n/a Colorado St
- Olivia Harlan SEC Georgia
ESPN or ESPN2 Friday/Saturday
- Clay Matvick n/a St Cloud
- Dan Orlovsky n/a UConn
- Paul Carcaterra ACC Syracuse
ESPN or ESPN2 Saturday
- Anish Shroff ACC Syracuse
- Ahmad Brooks XII Texas
- Roddy Jones ACC Ga Tech
ESPNU Saturday
- Kevin Brown ACC Syracuse
- Andre Ware n/a Houston
ESPNU Saturday
- Mike Corey n/a UMass
- Rene Ingoglia n/a UMass
ESPNU Saturday
- Mike Couzens ACC Syracuse
- Kirk Morrison n/a San Diego St
ESPNU Saturday
- Roy Philpott ACC Clemson
- Tom Ramsey
ESPNU Thursday – HBCU
- Tiffany Greene n/a Florida A&M
- Jay Walker n/a Howard
All Networks
- Mark Neely XII Kansas
- Ray Bentley n/a C. Michigan
All Networks
- Dave Lamont ACC Miami
- John Congemi ACC Pitt
BOTTOM LINE: Thanks in large part to the 9 from Syracuse, that's 16 total broadcasters from ACC schools. Here's the breakdown:
ACC 16
Pac 4
SEC 4
XII 4
B1G 3
ND 1
If anything, the new lineup is dominated by ACC alumni! No doubt, we could see many of those guys move over to the ACC Network next year (it's worth noting that the SEC Network teams are not listed here). Still, a hopeful sign...
I totally agree that it "feels" like the SEC gets top billing, etc. I do think things are gradually starting to change - but ACC football MUST keep the foot on the gas pedal! Perhaps ESPN is finally realizing that they have a huge investment in the ACC, which they need to protect?
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