With tons of change in a short period of time, it’s never been easier to get lost as a college football fan. Thankfully, coverage on the internet continues to get better with plenty of ways to stay updated on the most important storylines. As it shifts into a sport that needs to be followed year-round, I’m here to help as I narrowed down the list of the 5 best college football podcasts going.
Just like the coaches and players, you need to be preparing for the season right now. I found each one of my favorite college football podcasts in previous offseasons, and trust me – you will not be at your best as a fan in November if you’re not putting in the time in April.
Look at what we’ve had so far this offseason, which is exactly 3 months old. A guy is set to play college football and could make $8 million to do so despite currently finishing up his junior year of high school. Leaders of the sport came to an agreement that making their conference happy is not worth the sacrifice of making other conferences happy. 50 uncommitted quarterbacks remain in the transfer portal.
If it gets to Labor Day weekend and you’ve fallen behind, there’s not enough time for a college football crash course.
Because I love you and do not want to see you go in unprepared, I narrowed down the 5 best college football podcasts, all of which I listen to on a regular basis, to get you through the spring and summer months. I don’t have a strong criteria for what I look for, but I’d like for my college football podcasts to entertain me or at least make me a smarter college football fan.
Pardon My Take with Big Cat and PFT Commenter is the best sports podcast to ever exist and while it doesn’t quite fit the category of national college football podcast, hopefully this shoutout will help them become successful some day. The Camp with Zach Heilprin and Jesse Temple is another podcast I do not miss for Wisconsin Badgers football.
Plenty of college football podcasts are probably as good or better than my top five and if you’ve got a favorite, let me know on Twitter or comment below the article. With how easy it is to publish an episode now, maybe yours is or will be better. Guys Sports Talk with Ted and Frank will probably be a massive success, and I’ll need to update this in the years ahead.
Cover 3 Podcast
Hosts: Chip Patterson, Tom Fornelli, Danny Kanell, Bud Elliott
The Cover 3 Podcast changed its name plenty of times with some co-host turnover in recent years as CBS Sports’ college football podcast. Even with the loss of Barton Simmons, who left the show to be the general manager at Vanderbilt, it’s still the best college football podcast going. Four co-hosts can be a lot, but all four personalities bring something different to make the show work.
Chip Patterson is an excellent point guard keeping the conversation moving along, and I’ll always support a younger guy with gray hair as a person who started going gray in high school myself. Tom Fornelli knows the numbers with a good sense of humor, and Bud Elliott knows the recruiting world from 247Sports.
I’m one of the many listeners who despised the idea of Danny Kanell joining the show, but he’s not as hateable as many of us thought he’d be, which is the greatest compliment anyone could give in sports media.
The Solid Verbal
Hosts: Ty Hildenbrandt, Dan Rubenstein
You will not find college football talked about in a more creative way than how the guys at The Solid Verbal do it. Ty Hildenbrandt and Dan Rubenstein started publishing episodes before you knew what a podcast was as the Godfathers of college football podcasting. The two have been at it since 2008 and still bring fresh, new ideas to make the show fun and entertaining.
Hildenbrandt and Rubenstein both recently started focusing on The Solid Verbal as their full-time jobs, and they host the only podcast on this list that is not currently backed by a major media company. I am a proud Verballer and pay for a yearly Patreon subscription to listen to more of two of the best to ever do it. A reminder to support the content you like in 2022 and beyond.
The Audible
Hosts: Bruce Feldman, Stewart Mandel
Speaking of supporting content you like, I’m also a paying subscriber to The Athletic, which employs Bruce Feldman and Stewart Mandel, though their podcast The Audible is free to listen to. Feldman is among the best college football insiders, and I trust him to know the ins and outs of the sport more than just about anyone else.
Feldman and Mandel worked at just about every college football media company you can think of and published a few books over their careers. You won’t find two podcast co-hosts who have been more immersed in the evolution of college football for as long as they have.
The Late Kick
Hosts: Josh Pate
The Late Kick with Josh Pate is the only one of these five podcasts that is a one-man operation aside from the behind-the-scenes folks whomst Pate claims exist. He does not believe in using the word “offseason” and does a great job of playing the hits. You may claim you want more Pac-12 talk but in reality, you don’t. Pate brings an interesting perspective of the most important college football topics to every episode and makes me think differently.
The Late Kick has an independent feel, and Pate is an incredible community builder for his podcast listeners and viewers. Pate is with 247Sports and unless I missed something recently, he is set to be a free agent, and he has proven to be a valuable voice in college football. Buy stock in Pate State now while you still can.
I also pay for a subscription to 247Sports for the best recruiting coverage out there, further confirming I’m a better sports fan than you.
The Andy Staples Show
Hosts: Ari Wasserman, Mitch Light
This is the most recent addition to my podcast listening experience, and you may notice Andy Staples is not one of the hosts of The Andy Staples Show. Actually he is sometimes, but this podcast feed features plenty of episodes featuring writers of The Athletic, and I enjoy the weekly Stars Matter show with Ari Wasserman and Mitch Light.
If you’re looking to take a deep dive into college football recruiting, this is a good one to listen to with Wasserman providing his insights as the national recruiting writer at The Athletic and Light, who is an editor with the company.
I began listening to this one in the fall, so I’m realizing I lied when I said I found each of these podcasts during an offseason. But we’re well over 1,000 words in and scrolling up to fix that sentence would take roughly 17 seconds, and who has the time for that?
Podcast coming soon
If you made it to the end of this article, you’re the first to learn Deceptive Speed will launch a new podcast this fall. It will be about college football and a little different from the rest. We’re still in the planning stages but things are happening, and I’m pretty excited about it. When it goes live, this article will be updated because I’m not above moving my own show to the top of the 5 best college football podcasts list.
Send Erik Buchinger your college football tips, thoughts and game day stories, photos or videos to @DeceptiveSpeed on Twitter or email erikbuchingermedia@gmail.com.
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