Joe Buck is in South Florida for college football’s biggest night, but he won’t be the voice carrying viewers through the national championship. Even as his presence around the event has sparked curiosity and conversation over the past couple of weeks, ESPN’s plan for the booth has never changed.
That responsibility again belongs to Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, who will call their 12th straight national championship together at Hard Rock Stadium. It’s a pairing that has become as familiar as the game itself, a constant presence as seasons build toward this one final night.
Buck’s trip to Miami, though, was never about any work assignment. His connection to the moment runs deeper than a headset. A former Indiana University student, Buck has stayed closely tied to the Hoosiers during a season that has felt improbable to many who’ve followed the program for decades.
That pride showed up recently when Buck voiced Indiana’s hype video ahead of its matchup with Oregon, a small but meaningful gesture that resonated with fans and reopened conversations about his time in Bloomington.
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Those conversations eventually reached Buck himself. On X, he clarified lingering questions about his college years, explaining that he left Indiana during his senior year when an early broadcasting opportunity presented itself, accelerating a career path that would later make him one of the most recognizable voices in sports.
Even without a traditional graduation, Buck’s relationship with Indiana came full circle in 2016, when the university awarded him an honorary doctoral degree in recognition of his career and continued connection to IU.
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Asked more recently about Indiana’s rise, Buck put it simply in an interview with the Indy Star. “It’s almost surreal,” he said. Few words fit better for a program enjoying a moment many once only imagined, and for an alumnus watching it unfold from the national stage.
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So while it won’t surprise anyone if Buck makes an appearance or two on tonight’s broadcast, the championship call itself belongs to Fowler and Herbstreit. Buck will be there as a witness, a supporter, and a Hoosier, watching as college football crowns its champion under the lights in Miami.
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