Joe Tessitore, Jesse Palmer brought some comedy to Big 12 Championship Game call

The Big 12 Championship Game was supposed to be all about the No. 15 Arizona State Sun Devils and No. 16 Iowa State Cyclones.

Instead, ESPN announcers Joe Tessitore and Jesse Palmer stole the show.

Tess and Jess, who recently came in at No. 8 in the Awful Announcing 2024 College Football Announcer Rankings, have a knack for shining in games full of exciting plays and finishes. On this Saturday, however, they were overseeing a blowout courtesy of the Sun Devils. So, they made the most of the broadcast by keeping things light and having fun.

We can thank ASU running back Cameron Skattebo for the funniest exchange of the day. Right after Palmer praised him, Skattebo scampered for a huge gain, breaking free of several ISU tacklers on the way. It led to a classic Joe Tess call.

You can’t have a player named Skattebo and not expect there to be some booth hijinks around that name. That hijink appeared in the form of Palmer doing a pretty solid Billy Madison impression.

And just in case you needed another fix of Joe Tessitore screaming “SKATTEBO,” here you go.

At one point, Tess and Palmer discussed how long it’s been since Iowa State won a conference championship (1912). That led to a gem from Jesse about how the two of them would have handled Prohibition.

Tess was such a sucker for Palmer’s running stand-up routine that he was starting to have trouble calling the game in-between laughing fits.

Of course, that didn’t stop Tess from going full WWE when needed (even if that ended up being a bit gauche given the outcome).

Tess didn’t endear himself to some Big 12 fans thanks to several glowing SEC mentions during the game, but he and Palmer certainly seemed to enjoy their day regardless.

[ESPN]