Football season is getting closer…
And thank goodness, because I don’t think I can wait very long. The first week of college football is called “Week Zero” and on Saturday, August 23, we will officially be back in full swing on campuses across the country.
I love the NFL, but for me, absolutely nothing compares to the electricity of a college football game on Saturday…now, I’m biased because I get to watch in the best stadium in the world for six fall Saturdays in Boone, North Carolina, but I’m sure most of you feel the same way at your alma mater, so you share my excitement and anticipation that we’re getting closer now that July is halfway over.
With the promise of a new college football season comes the rollout of tons of new balls and new media, and today was the perfect day to debut this new teaser as the first day of SEC Media Week (that’s four days total) begins in Atlanta.
Luc Combs is a favorite in terms of using his songs for college football theme songs on different networks, and last year the SEC Network used Combs’ cover of Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream” as its season highlight song. In 2021, the SEC Network used Luke’s song “South On Ya” as its theme, which was my favorite.
And this year, Combs will once again be the voice of the SEC Network alongside collaborator Bailey Zimmerman as their song “Backup Plan” will be the official anthem of the SEC on ABC. I’ll be honest, I really wasn’t a fan of this song when it came out, which is no joke for Luke… I’m just not a fan of Bailey Zimmerman, so it didn’t do anything for me. But after seeing the teaser with the song as a backdrop with SEC highlights and knowing that football season is right around the corner, I might come back to it a bit more, to be honest.
The song was released in May as the second single from Zimmerman’s upcoming second album. Different night, same rodeoand it was written by Jimi Bell, Jon Sherwood and Tucker Beathard. I didn’t think anything would really change my mind about it, but sure, with Combs on it, there’s some inherent redeeming value, and I think I might also be a little blinded by the excitement of football season and be willing to like anything because I know the release of this video is a good sign for what’s around the corner.
I mean, Luke Combs and college football go together like peanut butter and jelly, and there’s a reason he continually appears on College Football Network themes:
WE ARE EXCLUSIVE FOR THIS ONE 😮💨
A new SEC season is upon us and @baileyzimmerman & @lukecombs are here to prepare us 🏈 pic.twitter.com/8cTsFmRN53
– ESPN College Football (@ESPNFCB) July 14, 2025
“Backup plan”
It’s going so hard… that’s the 2021 theme with “South On Ya”:
