1. Brent Musburger, ABC - Mostly, it’s because he enjoys gambling, and always manages to slip in a reference on air. You can almost tell who he’s on based on his tone following turnovers and touchdowns. He seems to get more freedom than any other announcer when it comes to fans (see Jen Sterger), the sideline reporter (Erin Andrews), and challenging authority (refs, his analyst). He’s the announcer we’d most like to have a beer with.

2. Verne Lundquist, CBS - With the exception of some extreme verbal fellatio for Tim Tebow in the last few years, Lundquist is among the best in the biz. Ten’s across the board. It helps that he’s usually getting good games, but something tells us that if this guy called Harvard-Yale in the Fall, it’d be watchable. If we could sit in the stands next to any announcer, it’d be Verne.

3. Ron Franklin, ESPN - It’s criminal that ESPN booted him in favor of Mike Patrick in 2005 – if he were still doing top-tier games, he might be our No. 1 choice. Franklin, who is in his late 60s, seems like the kind of guy you’d want to plant yourself next to and listen to him ramble about paint or plywood or the Pyrenees. He’s got an easy way about him, he’s got the memory of an elephant, and there isn’t a better storyteller on this list. If Keith Jackson is the dean of college football announcers, then we might put Franklin 2nd.

4. Sean McDonough, ESPN – Our memory’s a bit foggy, but we might have played Hold ‘em with him once at Mohegan Sun a few years back. And he was funny (and, as legend had it, won something like $20k the night before). McDonough is terrific on college hoops and a bit underrated on college football. His problem is the anchor known as analyst Chris Spielman, who is weighing him down.

5. Ian Eagle, CBS – Brad Nessler, ABC - This probably speaks more to the dearth of top-shelf college football announcing talent than anything. Actually not a huge Ian Eagle fan – solid is the word that best describes his work – but we just couldn’t go with Chris Fowler (much better as a studio host) or Tom Hammond (has his moments, but far too dry). It basically came down to a coin flip with Brad Nessler, and Eagle had tails (never fails). [Edit: Could have sworn we heard Eagle on more than the Army-Navy game. Guess not. Nessler it is!]

Couldn’t find this list with a GPS: FOX’s Thom Brennaman, and ESPN’s Pam Ward.