Rece Davis, one of the sports industry’s preeminent hosts and a mainstay on ESPN for more than 25 years, is the host of ESPN’s Emmy Award-winning College GameDay Built by The Home Depot. He is also a host for premier college football events including the College Football Playoff National Championship and the NFL Draft on ABC, in addition to select play-by-play assignments for college football and basketball. A regular contributor to SportsCenter and other ESPN shows and platforms, Davis also serves as the host of the College Football Playoff Top 25 Rankings Show.
During the basketball season, Davis is the host of College GameDay Covered by State Farm, a role he has occupied since the show debuted in 2005. He anchors coverage from the annual State Farm Champions Classic and NCAA Men’s Final Four, and he has also served as host of the NBA Draft on ESPN for more than a decade.
In his first three seasons with college football’s longest-running and most-celebrated pregame show, College GameDay earned a Sports Emmy for best weekly studio show (2018, 2017 & 2016), adding to the previous five trophies (2015, 2014, 2011, 2010 & 2008). He was also nominated for Outstanding Sports Personality – Studio Host in 2018 and 2019. The College Football Playoff: Top 25 Rankings Show, hosted by Davis, also received special recognition by Sports Video Group for Outstanding Live Non-Game Production (College Sports Media Awards).
Previously, he was the host of ESPN’s Saturday college football pregame, halftime, and postgame studio coverage and College Football Final with analysts Lou Holtz and Mark May. Davis also called the ESPN College Football Primetime game on Thursday nights with Jesse Palmer, David Pollack, and Samantha Ponder until 2014. Davis hosted ESPN2’s weekend RPM 2Night and Sunday morning RPM 2Day programs (1997-1999), and ESPN2’s NBA 2Night, the network’s daily NBA highlights/news program (1996-97). He has also worked on ESPN and ABC’s Triple Crown horse racing and NFL Draft coverage. Davis has garnered several accolades, including the Lester Jordan Award (2019) and Jake Wade Award (2016), both given by CoSIDA for outstanding contributions to intercollegiate athletics and Best Sports Host (2008 – Cablefax).
Davis, a native of Muscle Shoals, Ala., graduated cum laude from the University of Alabama in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the School of Communications in news and public affairs. Davis was named the University of Alabama School of Communication Broadcast Department’s outstanding alumnus for 2001. In 2019, Davis was inducted into the University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences Hall of Fame.
