ESPN/ABC’s Thanksgiving Week College Football: Notre Dame Seeks College Football Playoff Berth Via Undefeated Season on ABC’s Saturday Night Football; Big 12, American Athletic, Mountain West, and Sun Belt All Host “Win and In” Games for Conference Championship Berths

- ABC’s Saturday Night Football: Fighting Irish Looks to Win at USC for First Time Since 2012
- ‘Win and In’ Conference Championship Berths:
- 6 Oklahoma-West Virginia on ESPN
- Houston-Memphis on ABC
- 23 Utah State-No. 25 Boise State on ESPN
- Troy-Appalachian State on ESPN+
- 2018 NCAA Division I Football Championship Playoffs Begin on ESPN3
ESPN’s Thanksgiving week college football slate (Nov. 20-24) will see a College Football Playoff berth on the line for No. 3 Notre Dame and multiple conference championship game matchups decided, including the definitive “win and in” scenarios for both teams in Big 12, American Athletic, Mountain West, and Sun Belt matchups.
ABC’s Saturday Night Football: Notre Dame Looks to Conclude Regular Season Undefeated, Earn a Likely College Football Playoff Berth
ABC’s Saturday Night Football will air the 87th all-time meeting between No. 3 Notre Dame and USC (8 p.m. ET), as the Fighting Irish conclude their regular season schedule. A win would be Notre Dame’s 12th on the year, resulting in an undefeated regular season and a likely College Football Playoff berth. It would also mark the team’s first time achieving an undefeated regular season since the 2012 which coincides with the last year the Fighting Irish won in Los Angeles and went on to play for a national championship. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Maria Taylor will be at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the game.
Black Friday Conference Championship Impact Games:
- Oklahoma-West Virginia Conclude Big 12 Championship Race on ESPN Prime-time Showdown
ESPN’s Black Friday prime-time matchup will decide a berth to the Big 12 Championship game, as No. 6 Oklahoma plays at No. 9 West Virginia (8 p.m.). The winner of the game will play in the conference championship game, while the Sooners are also among the top-ranked teams in the College Football Playoff selection committee’s rankings and look to continue to boost their resume with another marquee victory. Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe will be in Morgantown, W.V. - Houston at Memphis to Decide AAC West; UCF Looks to Extend Nation’s Longest Winning Streak
The American Athletic Conference will have two significant games on Black Friday, beginning with Houston at Memphis (noon) on ABC and then UCF at USF (4:15 p.m.) on ESPN. The Cougars-Tigers matchup is for the AAC West Division, with the winner of the game set to face East Division champion UCF next week. The Knights have plenty on the line this week as they look to extend their winning streak to 24 games and remain undefeated on the season. Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht and Rocky Boiman will be in Memphis and Clay Matvick, Dan Orlovsky and Paul Carcaterra in Tampa, Fla. - Buffalo Looks to Clinch MAC East Division
Buffalo controls its own destiny for a berth in the MAC Championship as the Bulls travel to Bowling Green (noon) on ESPNU. Tiffany Greene and Jay Walker will be in Ohio for the call.
ESPN Primetime Saturday Night:
- Unbeaten Clemson Takes on South Carolina; Mountain West Championship Berth Decided between Utah State-Boise State
ESPN will conclude Saturday with a key rivalry game, as No. 2 Clemson hosts South Carolina (7 p.m.), and a defacto conference division championship game, as 23 Utah State is at No. 25 Boise State (10:15 p.m.). The Tigers will look to extend their winning streak over their in-state rivals to five straight, while simultaneously continuing their undefeated season. The Aggies and Broncos are in a “win and in” game for the Mountain West Championship, as the winner will earn the Mountain Division title. Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Todd McShay will be in Clemson with Roy Philpott, Tom Ramsey and Ed Aschoff in Boise, Idaho.
Additional Games of Note:
- Thanksgiving Night: 21 Mississippi State at Ole Miss on Thanksgiving Night (7:30 p.m.)
- SEC Network Features Top Teams: SEC Network will feature two top teams facing their rivals, as No. 5 Georgia hosts Georgia Tech (noon) and 7 LSU plays at Texas A&M (7:30 p.m.)
- Sunshine State: 13 Florida at Florida State airs on ABC (noon)
Sun Belt East Division Decided on ESPN+; Subscription Service Streamed More than 300 Games in First College Football Season
ESPN+ will stream two key games which will help determine the matchup of the inaugural Sun Belt Championship, as the Troy at Appalachian State (2:30 p.m.) winner will win the East Division and Louisiana at Louisiana-Monroe (3 p.m.) will play a significant role in deciding the West Division winner. The key Sun Belt games will help conclude the subscription service’s first ever college football regular season, which saw more than 300 college football games streamed.
2018 NCAA Division I Football Championship First Round Streams on ESPN3
ESPN3 will stream all eight 2018 NCAA Division I Football Championship first round games on Saturday, with the complete bracket and schedule here.
Please note: College Football Playoff selection committee rankings from Nov. 13 were used in this release. New rankings will be revealed on Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
| Date | Time (ET) | Matchups/Commentators | Network |
| Tue, Nov 20 | 7 p.m. | Northern Illinois at Western Michigan Mark Neely, Ray Bentley, Quint Kessenich |
ESPNU |
| Ball State at Miami (Ohio) Jim Barbar, Dustin Fox |
ESPN+ | ||
| Thu, Nov 22 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 21 Mississippi State at Ole Miss Dave Flemming, Greg McElroy, Laura Rutledge |
ESPN |
| Fri, Nov 23 | Noon | Houston at Memphis Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht, Rocky Boiman |
ABC |
| Buffalo at Bowling Green Tiffany Greene, Jay Walker |
ESPNU | ||
| Central Michigan at Toledo Dan Gutowsky, Mark Herrmann |
ESPN3 | ||
| Eastern Michigan at Kent State David Wilson, Jerod Cherry |
ESPN3 | ||
| 3 p.m. | Coastal Carolina at South Alabama
|
ESPN+ | |
| 3:30 p.m. | Virginia at Virginia Tech Adam Amin, Rod Gilmore, Quint Kessenich |
ABC | |
| 4:15 p.m. | No. 11 UCF at South Florida Clay Matvick, Dan Orlovsky, Paul Carcaterra |
ESPN | |
| 8 p.m. | No. 6 Oklahoma at No. 9 West Virginia Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe |
ESPN | |
| 8:30 p.m. | No. 18 Washington at No. 8 Washington State Roy Philpott, Tom Ramsey, Ed Aschoff |
Radio | |
| Sat, Nov 24 | Noon | No. 13 Florida at Florida State Dave Pasch, Greg McElroy, Tom Luginbill |
ABC |
| No. 12 Syracuse at No. 20 Boston College
Bob Wischusen, Brock Huard, Allison Williams |
ESPN | ||
| Purdue at Indiana
Mark Neely, John Congemi, Alex Corddry |
ESPN2 | ||
| Navy at Tulane Mike Corey, Rene Ingoglia |
ESPNU | ||
| Georgia Tech at No. 5 Georgia
Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers, Cole Cubelic |
SEC Network | ||
| No. 4 Michigan at No. 10 Ohio State
Mark Kestischer, Barrett Jones, Ian Fitzsimmons |
ESPN Radio | ||
| 12:20 p.m. | NC State at North Carolina | ACC Network Extra | |
| 12:30 p.m. | Wake Forest at Duke | ACC Network Extra | |
| 1 p.m. | Old Dominion at Rice
|
ESPN+ | |
| 2 p.m. | New Mexico State at Liberty
|
ESPN3 | |
| Georgia Southern at Georgia State
|
ESPN+ | ||
| FCS Playoffs: Duquesne at Towson Mark Reghi, Dustin Fox |
ESPN3 | ||
| FCS Playoffs: Elon at Wofford Jonathan Yardley, Stan Lewter |
ESPN3 | ||
| FCS Playoffs: Stony Brook at Southeast Missouri State Jim Barbar, John Gregory |
ESPN3 | ||
| 2:30 p.m. | Troy at Appalachian State
|
ESPN+ | |
| 3 p.m. | Louisiana at Louisiana-Monroe
|
ESPN+ | |
| UAB at Middle Tennessee
|
ESPN3 | ||
| FCS Playoffs: Incarnate Word at Montana State Trey Bender, Doug Graber |
ESPN3 | ||
| FCS Playoffs: Delaware at James Madison Robert Lee, Matt Chatham |
ESPN3 | ||
| Southern Mississippi at UTEP
|
ESPN+ | ||
| 3:30 p.m. | Maryland at No. 14 Penn State Mark Jones, Dusty Dvoracek, Molly McGrath |
ABC | |
| Pittsburgh at Miami Anish Shroff, Ahmad Brooks, Roddy Jones |
ESPN | ||
| Minnesota at Wisconsin Jason Benetti, Kelly Stouffer, Olivia Dekker |
ESPN2 | ||
| Temple at Connecticut Bill Roth, Mike Golic Jr |
ESPNU | ||
| 4 p.m. | Tennessee at Vanderbilt Dave Neal, DJ Shockley, Dawn Davenport |
SEC Network | |
| FCS Playoffs: San Diego at Nicholls Drew Fellios, Forrest Conoly |
ESPN3 | ||
| Arkansas State at Texas State
|
ESPN3 | ||
| 5 p.m. | FCS Playoffs: Lamar at Northern Iowa Sean Kenney, Marcus Ray |
ESPN3 | |
| 7 p.m. | South Carolina at No. 2 Clemson Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Todd McShay |
ESPN | |
| No. 17 Kentucky at Louisville Kevin Brown, Andre Ware |
ESPN2 | ||
| San Jose State at Fresno State Jay Alter, Ray Bentley |
ESPNU | ||
| North Texas at UTSA
|
ESPN+ | ||
| 7:30 p.m. | No. 7 LSU at Texas A&M Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb, Kris Budden |
SEC Network | |
| FCS Playoffs: East Tennessee State at Jacksonville State Mike Watts, Tyoka Jackson |
ESPN3 | ||
| 8 p.m. | No. 3 Notre Dame at USC Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Maria TaylorRadio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie |
ABC & ESPN Radio | |
| 10:15 p.m. | No. 23 Utah State at No. 25 Boise State Roy Philpott, Tom Ramsey, Ed Aschoff |
ESPN | |
| 10:30 p.m. | Hawaii at San Diego State Mike Couzens, Kirk Morrison |
ESPNU |
Note all digital games are exclusive
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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; [email protected] and @DerekVolner

