THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON — Episode 2158 — Pictured: (l-r) Businessman Dave Portnoy & his dog Miss Peaches during an interview with host Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, July 16, 2025 — (Photo by: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images)
Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy proved to be the ultimate showman again as he made his much-anticipated debut on Fox’s college football pregame show “Big Noon Kickoff.”
Portnoy, a Michigan alumnus and diehard football fan, entered the network’s set in Columbus through a smoke-filled entrance wearing a ‘B1G’ hoodie. Within 10 seconds, he started singing the Michigan fight song, ‘The Victors’, prompting a parade of boos from the Ohio State fans.
“I’ve heard a lot of people say like, ‘Big Noon only hired Dave to troll Columbus,’ ” said Portnoy after he walked around the five-person Fox desk to greet the Buckeye supporters.
“I’m not here to troll you. You guys are being so rude. If I was here to troll you, I would have worn this shirt, but I decided not to our of respect.”
The 48-year-old, who will make regular appearances on the pregame show as part of a new partnership between Barstool Sports and Fox, took off his conference hoodie and displayed a ‘Still Can’t Beat Michigan’ blue shirt complete with an asterisk.
“You are destroying our security budget,” host Rob Stone quipped during the entrance.
“You can’t beat us,” Portnoy yelled to the crowd of boos. “That national title you have means nothing to every single one of you. And just to show you that I’m in a good mood, I bought a ton of gold pants because I know nobody in Columbus has seen any since the day of Urban Meyer. You can’t beat us. And I’m not here to troll you. I’m here to root for the Big Ten. It goes through Ann Arbor. Until you can beat us, it’ll always go through Ann Arbor.”
Analyst Urban Meyer, who went 7-0 against against the Wolverines during his seven-year stint as the Ohio State football coach, followed with an ‘O-H-I-O’ chant.
Meanwhile, Fox college football analysts Brady Quinn and Mark Ingram tried to convince Portnoy to start an Ohio State chant with the “Big Noon Kickoff” crowd during his debut appearance. Instead, he went into a quick edition of ‘The Victors’.
During the show, Meyer also presented a gift to Portnoy, who reportedly was barred by Ohio State for entering Ohio Stadium, though the school denied the report ahead of today’s broadcast. Meyer’s gift to Portnoy was a No. 16 Buckeye football jersey with ‘El Presidente’ printed on the back.
“I got a new house that needs some new toilet paper, so this will fit perfectly.” Portnoy said after he opened the Buckeye-themed bag. “You guys are very hospitable, very hospitable people.”
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjburns/2025/08/30/dave-portnoy-is-ultimate-heel-in-big-noon-kickoff-debut/
