ESPN unveils full SEC on ABC college football theme song

Here’s a full sneak peak of the new SEC on ABC college football intro/theme song that will air this season.

Fans of SEC football will get their first taste of the new “SEC on ABC” franchise this Saturday when the Florida Gators host the Miami Hurricanes at 3:30 p.m. ET at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on ABC.

A week later, Kentucky will host South Carolina in the Week 2 SEC on ABC window at 3:30 from Kroger Field.

On Thursday, ESPN released its full promo debuting the new theme song, along with an accompanying press release. If the intro sounds familiar to longtime college football fans, it should.

It’s essentially the same theme song ESPN used on college football broadcasts across the nation from the late 1990s and early 2000s, only with a slightly updated and “reimagined” intro.

ANALYSIS

Maybe it’s just me, but with the money ESPN is paying the SEC (The New York Times reported in 2020 that the figure would be around $300 million annually), the Worldwide Leader could have done something more imaginative than merely dust off an old theme song from decades past — even if the network proclaims it a “fan favorite.”

Sure, the SEC was never going to mimic or purchase the familiar “SEC on CBS” intro, which USA TODAY columnist Dan Wolken once described as “a salvo of horns, followed by rhythmic snare drums, 16 notes and then a quick crescendo.”

That intro been used on some level since before CBS became the home of the SEC’s coveted 3:30 kickoff window from 1996-2023. It’s been used for CBS telecasts of Mountain West games and its annual Army vs. Navy and Sun Bowl broadcasts. As out of place as it will feel, that theme will now be the one fans hear when they tune in to Big Ten games in CBS’ 3:30 window (hello, Maryland vs. UCLA!).

Maybe I’m wrong and the theme will grow/regrow on me and others. But it’s hardly as symbolic as that of another theme song from years past that will soon be making a comeback in “Roundball Rock,” NBC’s ultra popular NBA theme/anthem.

Until then, if you have fond memories of Ron Franklin dismissively calling Holly Rowe “sweetheart,” or Brent Musburger screaming “HOLY BUCKEYE!” you’ll still appreciate this theme.