ESPN’s comprehensive and in-depth college football bowl coverage – highlighted by the entire Bowl Championship Series on ESPN for the first time – will include approximately 70 commentators, analysts and reporters calling 33 bowl games across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Radio and ESPN 3D. ESPN3.com will offer a live simulcast of every ESPN and ESPN2 telecast, including all five BCS games.
Schedule | Photos
As part of an extensive four-year agreement with the Bowl Championship Series that begins this season, ESPN will provide exclusive worldwide telecasts, radio broadcasts, digital content and more for the five BCS games from January 2011 through January 2014. It will mark the first time ESPN has televised BCS games. ESPN Radio has broadcast every BCS game since 2000.
The schedule will kick off with an ESPN tripleheader Saturday, Dec. 18: the New Mexico Bowl (BYU vs. UTEP) at 2 p.m. ET, uDrove Humanitarian Bowl (Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State) at 5:30 p.m. and R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (Ohio vs. Troy) at 9 p.m.
Schedule Highlights
- ESPN will cover a network record 29 bowl games, highlighted by the five BCS bowls.
- ESPN’s New Year’s Day lineup will include a game across four networks at the same time.
- ESPNU will televise the TicketCity Bowl (Northwestern vs. Texas Tech) at noon, ESPNU’s first bowl telecast.
- ESPN and ABC will each cover a game at 1 p.m.: the Capital One Bowl (No. 16 Alabama vs. No. 9 Michigan State) on ESPN and Outback Bowl (Florida vs. Penn State) on ABC.
- ESPN2 will televise the Gator Bowl (No. 21 Mississippi State vs. Michigan) at 1:30 p.m.
- ESPN Radio will broadcast 23 bowl games, including all five BCS matchups, highlighted by the BCS National Championship game.
- ESPN 3D, ESPN’s newest outlet and the first 3D network to launch in the industry, will provide exclusive 3D coverage of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and Tostitos BCS National Championship Game.
- An ESPN platform will televise at least one game a day for 17 out of the 21 days from Dec. 21 to Jan. 10.
- ESPN, ESPN3.com and ESPN Radio will cover all seven ESPN Regional Television owned-and-operated bowl games: the New Mexico Bowl (Saturday, Dec. 18, at 2 p.m.), Beef ’O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl (Tuesday, Dec. 21, at 8 p.m.); MAACO Bowl Las Vegas (Wednesday, Dec. 22, at 8 p.m.); Sheraton Hawaii Bowl (Friday, Dec. 24, at 8 p.m.); Texas Bowl (Wednesday, Dec. 29, at 6 p.m.); Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Thursday, Dec. 30, at noon); and BBVA Compass Bowl (Saturday, Jan. 8, at 8 p.m.).
Commentator Highlights
- Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi will work ESPN’s telecast of the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game (Jan. 10 at 8:30 p.m.) while Monday Night Football announcers Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden, who will be joined by reporter Joe Schad, will call ESPN Radio’s broadcast of the game. ESPN 3D’s coverage will be called by Joe Tessitore, Tim Brown, Todd Blackledge and Wendi Nix.
It will mark Musburger and Herbstreit’s fourth consecutive BCS National Championship, the first two for ESPN Radio and last year’s ABC telecast from the Rose Bowl. Tirico, Gruden and Nix worked last year’s title matchup for ESPN Radio.
- Musburger and Herbstreit will also serve as the announcers of ESPN’s telecast of the Rose Bowl Game Presented by VIZIO with Andrews and the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas with Rinaldi.
- In addition to the title game, Tirico and Gruden will work two ESPN telecasts: the Discover Orange Bowl, with Monday Night Football booth colleague Ron Jaworski and NFL reporter Michele Tafoya, and the Outback Bowl with NFL reporter Suzy Kolber.
- The “overtime award” will go to Bill Rosinski, David Norrie and Joe Schad, who will call seven games for ESPN Radio, six of them as a team.
- ESPN commentator Dave Lamont and analyst JC Pearson will pair to work five games across television and radio from Dec. 18-30.
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