Can ESPN Replace the SEC on CBS Theme Music with John Williams?

This fall will be the last we see the SEC’s marquee college football games on CBS. Amid CFB Playoff expansion and TV contract turnover, ESPN will carry exclusive rights to SEC football games, beginning in 2024, when Oklahoma and Texas join the league. It will effectively end the “SEC on CBS.”

Aside from the monetary gain, there are plenty of positives to take away from this development. Instead of receiving less than two weeks notice, ESPN will share kickoff times for upcoming games well in advance, giving SEC fans more time to make Saturday plans in the fall.

There is one BIG negative. The Big Ten now holds the rights to the most iconic theme music in college football.

Instead of serving as the intro to the Iron Bowl or the World’s Largest Cocktail Party, that music will accompany the Big Ten’s third-best game. The theme music doesn’t pop quite the same for Minnesota vs. Iowa.

ESPN has an opportunity to create something new to replace the iconic song. This fall they hired John Williams to compose a theme for the CFB Playoff. The 90-year-old has been the composer to some of the biggest moves in cinema, ranging from Star Wars to Indiana Jones and Home Alone.

His new song, “Of Grit and Grind” debuted ahead of this year’s CFB Playoff. What do you think?

This theme sounds like some of the more subdued anthems you hear from the peacock at NBC. It also kind of feels like the background to credits from Star Wars. If the Worldwide Leader overlays some guitar or snyth to amp it up, maybe it could work. As long as we aren’t listening to Fallout Boy “for centuries!” I’m okay with whatever selection ESPN makes.