The Barstool Bass Classic has been building all week, and it all came down to tonight. Eight teams started the prelims fighting for four championship spots, and by Thursday night the field was set: 5 teams, one lake, and a $10,000 check on the line.
Sydnie Wells and Kate (Katiemoneygrabz) hosted the championship, and the buildup online made it clear this wasn't just some corporate activation nobody cared about. Barstool personalities were posting hype content, boat footage, and trash talk for days leading into the stream, with Sydnie hammering the same message on repeat all afternoon: tune in at 7.
The defending champs going in were Big Cat and PFT Commenter, the Pardon My Take duo who won it last year, and Stool Outdoors made sure everyone knew the reigning title was up for grabs again. A promo clip showed the pair on a bass boat with Navy Pier's Ferris wheel in the background, Mountain Dew cans in hand, looking every bit like men trying to protect something.
Tune into the @mountaindew Barstool Bass Classic to see if @BarstoolBigCat and @PFTCommenter can defend their title! #mountaindew_partner https://t.co/DGXaJz3GPT
It's not just a Big Cat and PFT show, though. Teams like Donnie Does World's squad, self-nicknamed 'WONTOYA,' came in swinging, with Donnie posting that his team was 'out for blood' as the championship went live. Elsewhere, Viva La Stool's clips of Nicky Clicky needling a teammate named Nick — Team Red — over his fishing instincts added some of the low-stakes chaos that makes these Barstool events fun to follow even if you don't care about bass fishing.
The 2nd annual Bass Classic is LIVE. Team #WONTOYA is out for blood! https://t.co/gv91jtStJZ
The Mountain Dew partnership has been all over this thing from the jump, with sponsored bits ranging from Barstool staffers doing blindfolded netting challenges to a rod-and-reel skill game set up in a gym. It's the kind of goofy, self-aware content Barstool built its outdoors brand on, and pairing it with an actual cash prize gives it enough stakes to keep people watching past the jokes. Whether Big Cat and PFT hang onto the crown or one of the newcomers takes it, the Bass Classic has clearly graduated from a one-off gimmick into an annual tradition worth defending.