Comedian Nate Bargatze to appear on SEC Nation in Week 14
By David Wasson
Published:
The SEC Network’s SEC Nation pregame show emanates from Knoxville on Saturday in advance the contest between No. 14 Vanderbilt and No. 19 Tennessee, and will host popular comedian Nate Bargatze as special guest.
The show, which starts at 10 am ET, previews action from across the conference – with host Laura Rutledge joined by analysts Paul Finebaum, Roman Harper, Jordan Rodgers and Tim Tebow.
Bargatze was born and raised in Nashville, with his mother Carol working in the Commodores athletic ticket office. Bargatze didn’t attend Vanderbilt, but instead took classes at Western Kentucky before embarking on a career as a comedian.
Bargatze’s second cousin, Ronnie Bargatze, was a 3-sport athlete who later became a basketball coach at Vanderbilt in the 1970s and was inducted into the TSSAA Hall of Fame in 2018.
Bargatze has twice hosted Saturday Night Live and set the Bridgestone Arena all-time attendance record when 19,365 people attended one of his shows in April 2023. He also has several Netflix specials and hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2025.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
