ESPN to Provide Most Comprehensive Coverage Ever for Post-Season College Football
By: Caryn Robbins Dec. 29, 2014
ESPN will provide its most comprehensive coverage ever for post-season COLLEGE FOOTBALL when it erects full sets in Pasadena, Calif., and New Orleans, and airs from four set locations in North Texas, sites of the first-ever COLLEGE FOOTBALL Playoff National Semifinals and the COLLEGE FOOTBALL Playoff National Championship, respectively. Twenty-seven ESPN announcers will be on hand between the two semifinals - The Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual and the Allstate Sugar Bowl - and more than 50 in Ft. Worth and Dallas for the COLLEGE FOOTBALL Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T when the ESPN networks' COLLEGE FOOTBALL studio shows, sports talk shows, national ESPN Radio programs and SportsCenter converge on Texas for a full week of programming January 5-12.
The Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual from Pasadena, Calif.
Host Rece Davis will anchor ESPN's studio coverage from inside The Rose Bowl beginning December 29 through New Year's Day and will be joined by analysts Mack Brown, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Danny Kanell and David Pollack, and reporters Samantha Ponder, Tom Rinaldi and Gene Wojciechowski. In addition, SportsCenter will be live on site with anchors John Anderson, Neil Everett, Jay Harris, Stan Verrett and Sara Walsh. On New Year's Eve, Pasadena will serve as the host for Championship Drive (11 a.m.-12:20 p.m. ET) leading into the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (12:30 p.m. on ESPN). The next day, College GameDay Built by The Home Depot will hit air on ESPN 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. with contributions from both semifinal sites.
Allstate Sugar Bowl from New Orleans
In New Orleans, starting December 29 through New Year's Day, host John Saunders will anchor ESPN's set presence with analysts Butch Davis, Joey Galloway, Lou Holtz, Mark May, Robert Smith and Tim Tebow, and reporters Kaylee Hartung and Marty Smith from outside Manning's Restaurant (519 Fulton Street, New Orleans) before moving to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for pre-game, halftime and post-game hits.
On December 30 and 31, the entire 11 p.m. SportsCenter will be live from outside Manning's Restaurant, while the post-Sugar Bowl SportsCenter will be live from the floor of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, with all three shows anchored by Matt Barrie, John Buccigross and Steve Levy.
SEC Network's SEC NATION will also be live in New Orleans, airing twice on New Years' Day from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome (10 a.m.-noon and 7:30-8:30p.m.), host Joe Tessitore and analysts Paul Finebaum, Marcus Spears and Tim Tebow. For the second show, Finebaum will be in Charlotte preparing for SEC Network's Finebaum Film Room: Allstate Sugar Bowl Live, an alternate production during ESPN's presentation of the Sugar Bowl at 8:30 p.m. Finebaum will be joined by Greg McElroy and Booger McFarlane to discuss the game live and take viewer calls. Following the game, SEC NOW will be live from outside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
ESPN National Semifinals Studio Programming Schedule:
| Date | Time (ET) | Program | Location/Site | Network |
| Mon, Dec. 29 | Noon-2 p.m. | SportsCenter segments | New Orleans | ESPN |
| 6 p.m. | SportsCenter segments | New Orleans | ESPN2 | |
| Tue, Dec. 30 | 9 a.m.-3 p.m. | SportsCenter segments | New Orleans | ESPN |
| 11 p.m. | SportsCenter | New Orleans | ESPN2 | |
| Wed, Dec. 31 | 8-11 a.m. | SportsCenter segments | New Orleans | ESPN |
| 11 a.m.-12:20 p.m. | Championship Drive | Pasadena, Calif. | ESPN | |
| 3-7 p.m. | Paul Finebaum Show | New Orleans | SEC Network | |
| Following game | SportsCenter | New Orleans | ESPN | |
| Thu, Jan. 1 | 6-10 a.m. | College GameDay Radio Special Edition | New Orleans | ESPN Radio & ESPN2 |
| 8-10 a.m. | SportsCenter segments | Pasadena, Calif. & New Orleans | ESPN | |
| 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | College GameDay Built by The Home Depot | Pasadena, Calif. & New Orleans | ESPN | |
| 10 a.m.-noon | SEC Nation | New Orleans | SEC Network | |
| 4:15-5 p.m. | Rose Bowl pre-game show | Pasadena, Calif. | ESPN | |
| 7:30-8:30 p.m. | SEC Nation | New Orleans | SEC Network | |
| 8:30-9:30 p.m. | SportsCenter | Pasadena, Calif. | ESPN2 | |
| 8:30 p.m. | Finebaum Film Room; Allstate Sugar Bowl Live | Charlotte | SEC Network | |
| Following game (Approx. Midnight) | SportsCenter | New Orleans | ESPN | |
| Following game (Approx. Midnight) | SEC Now | New Orleans | SEC Network |
Comments
Videos