Former WBIR broadcasters Kris Budden, Madison Hock join ESPN college football coverage

ESPN has unveiled its 2026-27 college football commentator teams and among the TV personalities are two sports anchors who began their careers in Knoxville.

"The expansive lineup brings together many of the game’s most respected voices alongside rising stars," ESPN's announcement said.

College football starts in under a month. Here are two former WBIR sports anchors fans can look forward to watching on ESPN this season.

Kris Budden

Kris Budden has been a reporter at ESPN since 2016, but years before that she was covering sports in the Scruffy City.

After graduating from the University of Missouri, Budden joined WBIR as a sports anchor in 2008. She was with Channel 10 for almost six years and departed the NBC affiliate station in 2014 to join Fox News, according to her LinkedIn.

See the list: Knoxville TV personalities who have left local news in recent years

During her time in Knoxville, Budden covered events including Pat Summit's retirement, the 2012 Olympics and NCAA men's and women's tournaments, according to her ESPN biography.

Budden will be teaming up with other ESPN personalities, Joe Tessitore and Jesse Palmer, this season as one of the commentator teams.

Madison Hock

Madison Hock, another former WBIR sports anchor, will also be joining one of ESPN's college football commentator teams. Unlike Budden who has worked for ESPN for 10 years, Hock is new to the network this season.

Hock joined ESPN full time in 2026 as a college football reporter for the ACC network, according to ESPN's announcement.

Working as a WBIR sports anchor in more recent years, Hock could be seen on Channel 10 between 2020 and 2022, according to her LinkedIn.

During her time in Knoxville, Hock covered notable sports news including the firing of Jeremy Pruitt as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers and former Vols football coach Phillip Fulmer's retirement after he stepped down from his role as athletic director, according to her Instagram.

Hock will be joined by Roxy Bernstein and Dave Clawson as one of ESPN's college football commentator teams.

Afton Pratt covers trending news for The Knoxville News Sentinel and Tennessee. She can be reached at ampratt@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Former WBIR broadcasters Kris Budden, Madison Hock join ESPN college football coverage