Maria Taylor is in her fifth season as an analyst, host, and reporter for ESPN. In 2017, Taylor became the first black female to co-host College GameDay Built by The Home Depot. Taylor was also tabbed as the sideline reporter for ABC Saturday Night Football and patrolled the sidelines for the 2018 College Football Playoff and National Championship Game. She previously served as the first female host of SEC Network’s traveling college football show SEC Nation, alongside analysts Tim Tebow, Marcus Spears and Paul Finebaum. In addition to her football duties, Taylor is a host of Big Monday and NCAA Women’s Final Four and National Championship studio coverage. She also serves as a sideline reporter for Saturday Primetime covering men’s college basketball. Prior to her role on SEC Nation, she helped launch the SEC Network as one of three studio hosts and worked as the SEC Saturday Night college football reporter with commentators Brent Musburger and Jesse Palmer.
In 2013, she was the sideline reporter on ESPN2’s weekly Saturday night primetime college football telecasts and covered the BCS Orange Bowl in consecutive seasons. Additionally, she has been an analyst for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Preview Show, as well as for ESPN’s coverage of both the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and Women’s Volleyball National Championship.
Prior to 2012, Taylor was a reporter and host for IMG College at the University of Georgia. She also appeared on various Comcast Sports South studio shows including Dawg Report, SEC Men’s Basketball Tonight, and SportsNite.
Taylor attended the University of Georgia where she played volleyball and basketball for the Bulldogs. She was named to the All-SEC volleyball team three times and was also a member of the USA A2 National Volleyball team. She graduated from Georgia in 2009 with a degree in broadcast news. She returned to the University to pursue her Master of Business Administration which she completed in May of 2013. She is a native of Alpharetta, Georgia.
Keynote Sponsor:
