ESPN will air more than 24 offerings throughout the first-ever quarterfinal round within the College Football Playoff on Tuesday, Dec. 31 and Wednesday, Jan. 1 utilizing its signature CFP MegaCast production. As the network continues airing the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, viewers will be granted multiple options to watch the action taking place around the country.
A variety of presentations will be available, including Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN2 as Ohio State and Oregon face off at the Rose Bowl Game on Wednesday, Jan. 1. McAfee and the cast of the show, including A.J. Hawk, Darius Butler, Connor Campbell, Ty Schmit and Anthony DiGuilio, will be live for the quarterfinal game and be joined by ESPN analysts, personalities and celebrities during the contest.
The traditional broadcast of Ohio State-Oregon will consist of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Holly Rowe and Stormy Buonantony on the call at 5 p.m. EST on ESPN. Viewers can also tune in for coverage on ESPN Radio with Marc Kestecher, Kelly Stouffer and Ian Fitzsimmons. Airing on ESPNU, the network will present its Command Center presentation that showcases up to four different vantage points simultaneously with real-time player and team statistics. ESPNEWS will present the SkyCast angle to demonstrate the alignment on the field in real time. The other quarterfinal games will air the Command Center presentation on ESPN2 and SkyCast on ESPNU. Viewers can also utilize the ESPN App for coverage of marching band performances at halftime.
Ahead of the Ohio State-Oregon matchup, College GameDay will broadcast live from the Rose Bowl Game from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST. The cast of Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban will be on site to provide insights and analysis ahead of the pivotal matchup. Reporters Jen Lada and Jess Simms, college football insider Pete Thamel and college football betting analyst ‘Stanford Steve’ Coughlin will also be on the show to provide contributions to the coverage.
ESPN commences its presentation of the College Football Playoff quarterfinals on Tuesday, Dec. 31 when Penn State faces Boise State in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. Bob Wischusen, Louis Riddick, Kris Budden and Tom Luginbill will broadcast the game on ESPN. Audio coverage on ESPN Radio will include Mike Couzens, Max Starks and Lauren Sisler on the broadcast.
The first game of the Wednesday slate features Texas and Arizona State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at 1 p.m. EST. Before the action commences, SEC Network will present studio coverage featuring Dari Nowkhah, Chris Doering and Benjamin Watson. Commentators for the game telecast on ESPN will consist of play-by-play announcer Joe Tessitore, analyst Jesse Palmer and reporters Katie George and Taylor McGregor. The ESPN Radio presentation of the game will include Anish Shroff, Andre Ware and Paul Carcaterra on the call. SEC Network, in conjunction with the Longhorn Radio Network (LEARFIELD), will air the Hometown Audio feed synced up with the SkyCast presentation with Craig Way, Roger Wallace and Will Matthews.
After the Ohio State-Oregon game concludes, ESPN will air the Allstate Sugar Bowl between Notre Dame and Georgia at 8:45 p.m. EST with a commentary team of Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, Molly McGrath and Laura Rutledge. In addition to her reporting responsibilities, Rutledge will host SEC Nation with Marty Smith, Paul Finebaum, Roman Harper, Tim Tebow and Jordan Rodgers from the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans at 7 p.m. EST.
Finebaum will also broadcast his weekday talk show live from New Orleans on Monday and Tuesday before an abbreviated show on Wednesday pertaining to SEC teams in the quarterfinals. The Skycast with Hometown Audio will be available on the SEC Network, working in conjunction with the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network (IMG College) with announcers Scott Howard, Eric Zeier and D.J. Shockley.
ESPN reached a new six-year deal with the College Football Playoff earlier in the year, granting it rights to live game broadcasts in all rounds, ancillary programming and the ability to sublicense a select number of games. Concurrent with the announcement of the media rights extension, it was also revealed that ESPN and the College Football Playoff amended its ongoing deal to account for the expansion of the tournament.
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