Traina Thoughts: FOX Somehow Thinks People Will Turn Away From ESPN to Watch Urban Meyer

FOX starting new college football pregame show with Urban Meyer, Reggie Bush.

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

1. Here we go again. In yet another case of a network just hiring big names without any thought to being creative or original, FOX is reportedly bringing in Urban Meyer and Reggie Bush for a revamped college football pregame show.

The New York Post's Andrew Marchand reports that Meyer and Bush will join host Rob Stone and analysts Matt Leinart and Brady Quinn for a new show that will air Saturday mornings at 11 a.m. ET on the FOX network. 

Yes, Meyer is one of the best coaches in college football history. But outside of Ohio State, Meyer is unliked—a lot. 

His reputation took a hit last year when he was suspended for three games over the way he handled allegations of domestic violence against former assistant coach Zach Smith. Before that, Meyer, citing health reasons, quit as coach of the Florida Gators in 2010. He waited all the way until 2011 to take the same job at Ohio State. Meyer then left that job last year, again citing health reasons.

Now, he's expected to have two jobs: One at FOX and one as Ohio State's assistant athletic director. (Where are all the people who were outraged last week when Jessica Mendoza, still employed by ESPN, took a front-office job with the Mets?)

Of course, FOX's thinking is to just hire as many big names as possible in hopes of trying to take some viewers away from ESPN's College GameDay—one of the best stuido shows in the history of sports television. And of course, this won't work and in a year or two, we'll be talking about Meyer leaving FOX and the show getting cancelled or moved to FS1 because the ratings will be abysmal.

Meyer worked at ESPN for the 2011 season and it was completely unmemorable. His personality is the complete opposite of what you'd want someone to have if you're going to tune in and watch them on TV every week. 

If you really want to go head-to-head with GameDay, go radical. Go different. Instead, FOX is going with the same old studio formula. They will tell you this is different because the cast is comprised of four of the greatest college football figures in recent history. Guess what? Viewers don't care. Viewers want to be entertained. Do you actually think anyone is going to pass on GameDay to watch FOX because Brady Quinn had a good career at Notre Dame in the early 2000s?

Somehow, I don't think there's one person in Bristol today who is even slightly nervous about FOX's new show.

2. CBS and Turner have announced their broadcast teams for the upcoming NCAA Tournament and there aren't many changes. In fact, there's only one: Jim Jackson will join Brad Nessler and Steve Lavin. Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson will call the Final Four for the fifth year in a row.

Jim Nantz / Bill Raftery / Grant Hill // Tracy Wolfson
Brian Anderson / Chris Webber // Allie LaForce
Ian Eagle / Jim Spanarkel // Jamie Erdahl
Kevin Harlan / Reggie Miller / Dan Bonner // Dana Jacobson
Brad Nessler / Steve Lavin / Jim Jackson // Evan Washburn
Spero Dedes / Len Elmore / Steve Smith // Ros Gold-Onwude
Andrew Catalon / Steve Lappas // Lisa Byington
Carter Blackburn / Debbie Antonelli // John Schriffen

3. This video was the best thing I saw all weekend. Stay with it until the very end for the payoff. 

Shoutout to the dude next to the cannon tonight. This is amazing. pic.twitter.com/9mMVnmiaWa

— Dave Holmes (@DaveHolmesTV) March 10, 2019

4. This was the second best thing from the sports weekend.

Shoutout my agent https://t.co/FEp4mE5XgJ

— kyle (@Ky1eLong) March 9, 2019

5. Nevada head coach Eric Musselman celebrated his team's third straight Mountain West title by stripping and having his wife write on his chest.

REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS#BattleBorn // #TheHunt pic.twitter.com/yxz4qJPbCu

— Nevada Basketball (@NevadaHoops) March 10, 2019

6. The latest Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features an interview with author, writer, and podcast host Jim Miller. Topics covered with Miller, the man who wrote the book on ESPN, include what ESPN plans to do for its Monday Night Football announcing team, how Jason Witten handled his departure from ESPN, Jessica Mendoza's new "conflict of interest," how sports fans will be affected by the changes at Turner Sports/Bleacher Report, an update on Adnan Virk, and much more. You can listen to the podcast below or download it on iTunes or Spotify.

7. RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE DAY: We lost another Beverly Hills 90210 star over the weekend. Jed Allan, who played Steve Sanders's dad Rush passed away on Saturday. Russ was a key figure in the episode that featured a guest-starring role from Barry Bonds.

Traina Thoughts is the best of the Internet, plus musings by SI.com writer, Jimmy Traina. Get the link to a new Traina's Thoughts each day by following on Twitter and liking on Facebook. Catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts right here. And make sure to listen to and subscribe to the SI Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina.

IN CLOSING: If you're a Knicks fan who pays for tickets to watch the team play in Madison Square Garden, you need to stop, ASAP.