Scott Van Pelt was born in Brookeville, Maryland and grew up in the Washington, D.C. area. He graduated from Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring, Maryland and enrolled at the University of Maryland  where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in radio/television and film.

Van Pelt began his career in sportscasting at WTTG-TV, a FOX affiliate in Washington, D.C. in 1990 and then moved on to the Golf Channel, where he worked from 1994 to 2000 as a studio host for some of the network's signature programs. After that, he signed on with ESPN in 2001. He serves as an anchor for SportsCenter  and is one of ESPN's golf correspondents, covering the Majors, and was also the co-host of Tirico and Van Pelt on ESPN Radio alongside Mike Tirico.

Van Pelt also hosted his own show, The Scott Van Pelt Show, for an hour after Tirico and Van Pelt (replacing Stephen A. Smith's radio show). As of July 6, 2009, Van Pelt (along with co-host Ryen Russillo) revived The Scott Van Pelt Show on ESPN Radio, broadcast 2 to 4 pm Eastern time weekdays with the second hour simulcast on ESPN2.

The current version of the show was launched on July 6, 2009, replacing Tirico and Van Pelt, which was co-hosted by Van Pelt and Mike Tirico. That show began on September 20, 2007 as The Mike Tirico Show, with Van Pelt, Michele Tafoya and Kirk Herbstreit as rotating co-hosts. The Mike Tirico Show aired from 1 pm to 3 pm under that title for a total of 160 shows until April 30, 2008.

At that time, the show was officially renamed Tirico and Van Pelt and Van Pelt also began hosting the first version of The Scott Van Pelt Show, which aired from 3 pm to 4 pm, immediately following T&VP. Van Pelt's solo hour ended in March 2009 as T&VP moved down to 2 pm to 4 pm. Tirico left the series in June 2009 to focus on his work with ESPN television.