This Week In College Football: Barstool Sports & The SEC - Black Shoe Diaries
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After some rumors swirled, news officially broke Thursday that Barstool Sports and FOX Sports are teaming up to take a stab at competing with ESPN. Barstool founder and front man Dave Portnoy will now join the much-maligned FOX Big Noon Kickoff, which already features Mark Stone, Mark Ingram, Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn, and Urban Meyer.
Additionally, a “Barstool College Football Show” will air in tandem with Big Noon Kickoff for select college football games. A new daily studio show featuring Barstool personalities will air on FS1, which expects to compete directly with ESPN’s daily talk shows like “First Take” and “Get Up.”
Portnoy is certainly a polarizing figure, but this feels like a good move for FOX. Big Noon Kickoff and its corresponding noon-slated games have won over eyeballs, but have been bashed in the court of public opinion. ESPN’s College GameDay, which has only gotten rowdier thanks to the addition of Pat McAfee, has always been the runaway favorite CFB morning show. The addition of Portnoy, who is a huge Michigan fan, to the Big Noon desk will surely generate more intrigue, disorder, and viral clips of him fighting with Urban Meyer.
The other angle here is that FOX owns a lot of the landmark Big Ten games and a major stake in the Big Ten Network. ESPN’s media deal with the SEC has only led to further “propaganda” and propping up of college football’s darling conference, so having the FOX/Barstool alliance as a counter attack to the empire may be a good thing for the Big Ten.
Big Ten, SEC Continue to Clash Over Playoff Format
It was the SEC’s turn for media days this week, and commissioner Greg Sankey continued the discussion about the future of the College Football Playoff. The big wigs of college football have until November 30 to decide if the 2026 playoff format will change, and things are at a standstill.
The Big Ten continues to support a 16-team format that would give four automatic bids to the Big Ten and SEC, while Sankey and the SEC back a “5+11” approach that would admit 11 at-large teams plus the five highest-ranked conference champions. Sankey said that his conference is in favor of moving to a 16-team format, but also that there is a “12-team Playoff with five conference champions that can stay if we can’t agree.” In my opinion, this is rational. Let’s see how this year’s changes to the 12-team format play out before expanding for the sake of expanding.
The other piece to this, according to ESPN, is the SEC weighing the addition of a ninth conference game. The only way the Big Ten would concede a move to the 5+11 format would be if the SEC and ACC added this extra game, thus making their respective schedules “as hard” as the Big Ten’s nine-game format. Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin pushed back on this, saying “I don’t think there’s anybody who would trade their nine games for the eight games we play down here?” — implying the SEC is the stronger conference overall.
Stay tuned for the Big Ten media days, which kick off in Las Vegas (?) next week. Penn State is sending Drew Allar, Nick Dawkins, and Zakee Wheatley.
Indiana Chickens Out of Virginia Series
Indiana is really not beating the soft strength of schedule allegations. The Hoosiers are reportedly canceling their 2027/28 home-and-home series with Virginia, according to On3’s Brett McMurphy. The school will have to pay half a million dollars to the Cavaliers and they, in turn, added games with Kennesaw State, Austin Peay, and Eastern Illinois.
Things have been trending this way in college football for a while, but it’s still a bit depressing to see it play out. Obviously, schools have to do all they can to pad their resumes and earn a bid into the playoff. Losing a tough out-of-conference game can be viewed as unforced error, especially as conferences grow and added tougher teams. But, these fun series are what give college football juice. Ohio State hosting Texas week one? Hell yeah! Let’s do more of that.
From a Penn State angle, the Auburn and West Virginia series were complete joys. Hosting their fans and then their fans returning the favor the next year was a treat — they got a taste of Happy Valley, and then we got a taste of their fan base, culture, and gameday traditions. The Nittany Lions did go 4-0 in this stretch, but a loss in any of those games would not have drastically changed the course of the program. And now with the playoff eyeing a 16-game format, you can afford another loss in the name of a fun home/home. Counting down the days to Nevada just isn’t that exciting. The countdown really should be until September 27, when Penn State plays its first real game.
Shame on Indiana.
Tweet Of The Week
Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz: “I’m not going to answer any questions about the Epstein files”
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 17, 2025 - Only Matt McGloin’s First Career Touchdown Pass Until Penn State Football
- Three Reasons For Concern: Special Teams
- Only Saquon Barkley’s 43 Career Rushing Touchdowns Until Penn State Football
- WATCH: Katie Schumacher-Cawley Accepts 2025 Jimmy V Perseverance Award at ESPYS
- Only Penn State’s 44-14 Beatdown Of Minnesota In 2005 Until Penn State Football
- Penn State Hockey Releases Non-Conference Schedule
- Only Matt McGloin’s First Career Touchdown Pass Until Penn State FootballThe 42-yard strike was also his first career completion.
- Three Reasons For Concern: Special TeamsPenn State finished 109th in ESPN’s special teams efficiency rating last year.
- Only Saquon Barkley’s 43 Career Rushing Touchdowns Until Penn State FootballSay bye bye.
- Only Penn State’s 44-14 Beatdown Of Minnesota In 2005 Until Penn State FootballThis ABC intro is GOAT’d
- Penn State Hockey Releases Non-Conference ScheduleThe Nittany Lions’ 10 non-conference matchups are set
FAQ
What Is Barstool Sports? The Wild Rise of Dave Portnoys Empire
Barstool Sports is a fun, no-holds-barred digital media company mixing sports talk, pop culture, and raw opinions. Founded in 2003 by Dave Portnoy as a free Boston newspaper, it now reaches 66 million monthly users, mostly guys aged 18-34, through blogs, podcasts, and videos.wikipedia+1 Dave started it in Milton, Massachusetts, with gambling ads, fantasy football picks, and jokes about the Red Sox. By 2007, it went fully online, swapping print for viral posts that fans called “Stoolies” loved—like staff pranks and game-day rants.
How Dave Portnoy Turned Pizza & Guts into $150M Fortune
Dave Portnoy kicked off his wealth journey in 2003 by launching Barstool Sports from his mom’s basement in Boston. What started as a free sports betting newspaper exploded into a digital hit with blogs, podcasts, and wild videos that hooked young fans. By 2015, it pulled in millions yearly from ads, merch like $30 hoodies, and events, setting the stage for his $150 million net worth today.sports.yahoo+1 The big money rolled in during 2020 when Penn National Gaming snapped up a 36% stake in Barstool for a whopping $163 million.
Is DraftKings part of barstool?
DraftKings and Barstool Sports have officially completed a multi-million-dollar, multi-year sports betting media partnership. The new relationship between the pair was first reported by Sportico last month, with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy confirming the deal yesterday evening, 11 February, on social media.Feb 12, 2024
Barstool Politics: Is Barstool Republican or Democrat?
Barstool Sports doesn’t belong to a single political party. The brand and its founder, Dave Portnoy, lean conservative-leaning in many ways, but are not officially tied to the Republican Party. Portnoy has described voting for Trump as more an indictment of Democratic politics than a blanket endorsement of the Republican candidate, and he has expressed nuanced views on issues like abortion and immigration that don’t fit a strict party line. In short, Barstool conservatism is best understood as a loose, populist-leaning stance within a broader media culture, not an official party affiliation.
Barstool Sportsbook Dead? Heres What Happened in 2026
Hey there, sports fans! Wondering if Barstool Sportsbook is still in the game? Nope, it shut down back in late 2023. Penn Entertainment sold Barstool Sports back to founder Dave Portnoy for just $1 and switched their betting app to ESPN Bet instead. Picture this: Barstool launched its sportsbook app in 2020, rolling out in spots like Pennsylvania and Michigan. They hoped to grab fans with Dave’s wild personality, but giants like FanDuel kept the lead.
Barstool Sportsbook is coming soon to be your home for betting on the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA and more. Stay connected and be the first to know about all the things coming to Barstool Sportsbook.
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