ESPN is reportedly planning a new college football show featuring Josh Pate, Taylor Lewan, and Bussin' With The Boys co-host Will Compton. According to Front Office Sports' Ryan Glasspiegel, the show will air Friday afternoons from college campuses, targeting the pre-game atmosphere and anticipation leading up to Saturday's games.
The reported show marks an expansion of ties ESPN has built with the three hosts. Pate joined the network's Get Up rotation last year, while Compton and Lewan started appearing on ESPN's daytime lineup after leaving Barstool Sports for a presenting sponsorship with FanDuel.
The new show is seen as a low-risk bet for ESPN, given the built-in audiences that Pate, Compton, and Lewan already bring to the table. As Pate told Front Office Sports in July, "I think when you combine that… year-round college football being viable and then just sports media as a concept being presented in practice the way Pat has done it, I think that there is no ceiling on what you're allowed to do, what you're capable of doing."
The show's concept is centered around capturing the vibe of Friday, the day before kickoff, as fans arrive on campus. Pate described it as "the build," where people come into town, families, and kids check out of school early, creating a sense of anticipation and excitement.
On a recent episode of Bussin' With The Boys, Pate and Lewan laid out their vision for the show, with Lewan framing it as bottling the anticipation of arriving on campus the day before kickoff and giving fans somewhere to spend those final hours before the pandemonium starts. Pate added, "I want a show that captures that. The vibe of Friday. The vibe of T-minus 24 hours, 21 hours, 17 hours. And it may be all quiet right now, but when that clock hits zero tomorrow, it's going to be all-out chaos."
The show's physical presence on college campuses is also planned, with the intention of tracking the countdown toward Saturday's game. As Pate said, "I want a show that captures that. The vibe of Friday. The vibe of T-minus 24 hours, 21 hours, 17 hours."
The reported show is seen as a potential opportunity for ESPN to further lean into a strategy where its top personalities are digital natives. The comparisons to Pat McAfee's own rise at the Worldwide Leader are inevitable, given the trio's SEC Championship altcast debut on ESPN2 last December.
Considering the built-in audiences that Pate, Compton, and Lewan already bring to the table, giving them their own show is a fairly low-risk bet for ESPN. The program is set to travel to the site of College GameDay on occasion, opening the door to fold the trio into the network's flagship pregame show down the line.
Source: Yahoo Sports