2016 College Football Season Begins on ESPN With Two Games & Preview Shows
By: Caryn Robbins Aug. 23, 2016
The 2016 COLLEGE FOOTBALL season begins on ESPN with two games and a number of previews shows leading into the sport's best opening week ever over Labor Day Weekend (Sept. 1-Sept. 5).
Hawaii and California will begin the season on Friday, Aug. 26, (10 p.m. ET) from ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Australia. ESPN will televise the game with Allen Bestwick, Mike Bellotti and Warren Smith on the call. The following night, ESPN airs the third annual FCS Kickoff event in primetime with defending Big South champions and No. 6 Charleston Southern visiting five-time defending champion and No. 1 North Dakota State (7:30 p.m.). Adam Amin, Mack Brown and Molly McGrath will be on the call from Fargo, N.D., in their first appearance as a commentating team.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW Shows
The two games will be wrapped around a series of preview shows across ESPN's networks:
- The newly revamped COLLEGE FOOTBALL Live debuts this week. THE DAILY SHOW (1:30 p.m.) will continue on weekdays throughout the season.
- The Herbies Pre-Season Special (Wed., Aug. 24, at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2): Kirk Herbstreit makes his preseason selections for both individual and team accolades. Rece Davis will host.
- College GameDay Season Preview Special Built by The Home Depot (Sat., Aug. 27 at 11 a.m. on ESPN): Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, David Pollack and Lee Corso (via satellite) come together to preview the season in an one-hour special before their week 1 show from Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisc for No. 5 LSU vs. Wisconsin
- The Heisman Trophy Preview Show Presented by Nissan (Sun., Aug. 28 at 1 p.m. on ESPN): Joe Tessitore, along with Desmond Howard and Danny Kanell, analyze and preview the nation's top players heading into the season.
- Championship Drive: COLLEGE FOOTBALL Season Preview (Sun., Aug. 28 at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN): Rece Davis sits down with some of college football's top coaches including Alabama's Nick Saban, Clemson's Dabo Swinney, Florida States' Jimbo Fisher, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Ole Miss' Hugh Freeze.
Additionally, ESPNU will air one-hour preview shows for each of the power five conferences this week, beginning with the SEC and ACC (Aug. 22), then continuing with the Big Ten and Big 12 (Aug. 23) and concluding with the Pac-12 (Aug. 24). The SEC Network will also have team specific shows at 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. each night.
ESPN COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW Programming (Aug. 22-28)
| Date | Time (ET) | Show | Commentators | Network |
| Mon, Aug. 22 | 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. | 2016 SEC COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW Show | Matt Schick, Tom Luginbill, Kevin Carter | ESPNU |
| 8 p.m. - 9 p.m. | 2016 ACC COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW Show | Anish Shroff, Mike Bellotti, Charles Arbuckle | ESPNU | |
| Tue, Aug. 23 | 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. | 2016 Big Ten COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW Show | Brendan Fitzgerald, Tom Luginbill, Jason Sehorn | ESPNU |
| 8 p.m. - 9 p.m. | 2016 Big 12 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW Show | Anish Shroff, Kevin Carter, Jason Sehorn | ESPNU | |
| Wed, Aug. 24 | 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. | 2016 Pac-12 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW Show | Brendan Fitzgerald, Mike Bellotti, Charles Arbuckle | ESPNU |
| 8 p.m. - 9 p.m. | National COLLEGE FOOTBALL Preview | Matt Schick, Mike Bellotti, Tom Luginbill | ESPNU | |
| 8:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. | The Herbies Preseason Special | Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit | ESPN2 | |
| Sat, Aug. 27 | 11 a.m. - noon | College GameDay Season Preview | Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, David Pollack, Lee Corso (via satellite) | ESPN |
| Sun, Aug. 28 | 1 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. | The Heisman Trophy Preview Show | Joe Tessitore, Desmond Howard, Danny Kanell | ESPN |
| 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. | Championship Drive: COLLEGE FOOTBALL Season Preview | Rece Davis | ESPN |
SEC Network's schedule can be found here.
Image courtesy of ESPN press
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