Everyone’s waiting for Dave Portnoy and Urban Meyer to duke it out on Big Noon Kickoff.
Chris Fallica’s waiting too.
“The Bear” has been fielding questions about the Portnoy hire since Fox announced its partnership with Barstool Sports. And when Front Office Sports asked if he expected some legitimate tension between the Michigan superfan and former Ohio State head coach, Fallica didn’t exactly dismiss the possibility.
“Well, he might,” Fallica told FOS’s Ryan Glasspiegel. “I’m sure there’ll be a little bit of a Michigan–Ohio State [rivalry]. I don’t want to say that we will ‘manufacture’ anything, but that might be a good idea, to have Urban and Dave go back and forth on a little Ohio State–versus–Michigan rivalry-type segment. That would be fun.”
The potential for that dynamic was already well underway when Fox announced the hire, but it came more into focus when the NCAA handed down Michigan’s punishment for the sign-stealing scandal. Portnoy immediately turned it into a WWE-style promo, mocking the $20 million fine as “ashtray money” and taunting Ohio State fans in the process.
“We own the Big Ten and we’re coming for ya,” he said. “See you at Big Noon Kickoff. I’m gonna be there, Columbus.”
Fox didn’t have to manufacture that moment. Portnoy created it himself, which is exactly what they’re banking on. Dan Le Batard was among those in sports media who argued that Portnoy was hired specifically to be controversial, and his Michigan fandom virtually guarantees he’ll clash with Meyer over their shared rivalry.
Fallica seems to understand that the rivalry content will happen on its own, even if Fox gives it a little nudge.
The irony is that Portnoy himself still doesn’t know how Fox plans to use him. Just weeks before the season starts, he admitted on The Unnamed Show that he doesn’t even know if he’ll be on the main panel. “If we’re being honest, I don’t even know how they’re using me yet,” Portnoy said in early August. “I don’t know that I’m on the panel.”
And Fallica knows the risks of forcing drama where it doesn’t belong. He brought up ESPN’s experiment with Nick Lachey on College GameDay.
“You know what’s funny? Now that you bring that up, I can remember when College GameDay actually had Nick Lachey as a contributor on the show,” Fallica continued. “And one of his first shows, producers had him sing the Michigan fight song in Ohio Stadium, like before anybody was even in it. And that did not go over very well with the fans, and I even think some people in the athletics department. So yeah, it was great.”
Portnoy’s different because his Michigan devotion and Ohio State hatred are completely genuine. That authenticity could be what makes this work, or what makes it a disaster, especially considering Ohio State fans already despise Big Noon Kickoff for sticking them with endless noon games instead of primetime slots.
That relationship between Fox and Buckeye Nation has reached an all-time low, with some fans even calling for legislative action to limit the network’s scheduling power. Now they have to watch a Michigan fanboy on the pregame show every Saturday.
Fox is betting that hate-watching can drive ratings just as effectively as genuine fandom. Whether that strategy works depends on how far they’re willing to let Portnoy off the leash when he inevitably goes after Meyer and Ohio State.
Either way, Fallica’s suggestion that Michigan-Ohio State rivalry segments “might be a good idea” could hint at Fox’s thinking, even if they won’t say they’ll outright manufacture drama.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.