"Never thought it was a good fit" - Colin Cowherd shades ESPN after Dave Portnoy and Barstool's Big Noon Kickoff partnership with FOX 

On Monday, Colin Cowherd shared his thoughts on FOX Sports' new partnership with Barstool's Big Noon Kickoff, as Barstool founder Dave Portnoy is set to join Cowherd as a new colleague.

While speaking about this new partnership, Cowherd used the opportunity to throw shade at Barstool's previous dealings with ESPN. Eight years ago, Barstool tried a partnership with ESPN by developing a new show called Barstool Van Talk. But things didn't work out, and the show subsequently got canceled. Now, Cowherd expects better things from Portnoy and the brand in their new collaboration with FOX Sports.

"First of all, I never thought Barstool was a good fit with ESPN," Cowherd said on his eponymous podcast (Timestamp- 49:36 onwards). "I just never thought it was a good fit. I didn't think that show was going to last 15 minutes. "I think it works at FOX, because FOX News... is owned by the Murdoch family. They have strong convictions on the right. And you can call them whatever you want, they don't care. And so, FOX Sports... to some degree, is not protected, but we're under sort of the umbrella of like FOX News and the New York Post. The Murdoch family is very comfortable with you having lots of opinions."

Colin Cowherd also went on to explain his understanding of the reasoning behind this new partnership. According to him, the network is trying to capitalize on the digital market and fan base that Barstool Sports enjoys. A few days back, Dave Portnoy announced that Barstool Sports now has a slot on FOX Sports before Cowherd's show.

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Colin Cowherd anoints Big Ten as premier college football conference

Over the past two years, the college football national champion has been a team from the Big Ten Conference. After Michigan's triumph under Jim Harbaugh in 2023, the Ohio State Buckeyes secured the natty last season.

On his show "The Herd", Cowherd shared his take on how the Big Ten is taking over the SEC's credibility as the golden standard in college football.

"It's going to be hard to stomach for a lot of people, the Big Ten is officially better than the SEC," Cowherd said. "It's not just that Ohio State won the natty last year. It's that they humiliated Tennessee and dominated Texas... The year before, Alabama played Michigan, where Michigan won the natty. Alabama couldn't move the ball... I think there's a reason for it, and I never thought it was possible."

Furthermore, the FOX Sports analyst also predicted that a Big Ten team will lift the national championship this season.

Edited by Veer Badani