Nicole Briscoe grew up in Roscoe, Illinois, where she graduated from Hononegah Community High School in 1998. That same year, she won the Miss Illinois Teen USA title and competed in the national Miss Teen USA pageant. She attended Northern Illinois University, where she began her career as a general assignment reporter at WREX-TV, the NBC affiliate in Rockford, Illinois.

After college, Briscoe worked at various local TV stations in Indiana and Indianapolis. She then became a pit reporter for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network before joining Speed Channel in 2006. In 2008, she moved to ESPN, where she hosted NASCAR Now and the NASCAR Countdown pre-race show. 

In 2015, Briscoe transitioned from motorsports to become a full-time SportsCenter anchor. She has maintained the role through a multi-year contract extension signed in December 2023. Besides SportsCenter, she also hosts Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown, and has served as host for ABC’s 2018 Indianapolis 500 telecast and Formula 1 coverage in the United States. Beyond her TV career, Briscoe is an avid runner and has competed in the Boston, Chicago, and NYC Marathons.