ESPN will kick off the 2014 college football season with national coverage of 55 games in six days as part of the seventh annual DICK’s Sporting Goods Kickoff Week from Wednesday, Aug. 27, to Monday, Sept. 1.
The schedule – a Labor Day Kickoff Week record featuring coverage across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, SEC Network, Longhorn Network, ESPN3, ESPN Goal Line and ESPN Radio – will be highlighted by nine of the top 15 ranked teams in action, including three matchups between ranked teams.
Every ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN3, SEC Network and Longhorn Network game will be available through WatchESPN, accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app, through ESPN on Xbox LIVE, Amazon FireTV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast and Roku devices to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.
Schedule highlights:
- SEC Network Doubleheader Opener: The recently launched SEC Network, a national sports network devoted to the Southeastern Conference and operated by ESPN, will open its live game coverage with a doubleheader Thursday, Aug. 28: No. 21 Texas A&M at No. 9 South Carolina at 6 p.m. followed by Temple at Vanderbilt at 9:15 p.m.
- Showdown of Ranked Teams: An ESPN Saturday night doubleheader on August. 30 will pit No. 16 Clemson at No. 12 Georgia at 5:30 p.m. followed by No. 14 Wisconsin vs. No. 13 LSU in the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff from Houston at 9 p.m.
- Top 2: ABC and ESPN Radio will broadcast the top two ranked teams in neutral site games against top non-conference opponents on Saturday, Aug. 30: Defending National Champion No. 1 Florida State vs. Oklahoma State in the Cowboys Classic from Arlington, Texas, at 8 p.m. and West Virginia vs. No. 2 Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game from Atlanta at 3:30 p.m.
- Monday night football: ESPN’s Labor Day prime-time telecast on Monday, Sept. 1, at 8 p.m. will mark the ACC debut for Louisville with the Cardinals hosting Miami (Fla.).
- No. 6 & No. 7: The schedule for Saturday, Aug. 30, will include two teams in the top seven rankings: No. 7 UCLA at Virginia at noon on ESPN and No. 6 Auburn against Arkansas at 4 p.m. on SEC Network.
- Longhorn Network: Longhorn Network’s exclusive coverage of Texas, led by new head coach Charlie Strong, against North Texas on Saturday, Aug. 30, at 8 p.m. will mark the fourth straight season the network has televised the Longhorn’s season-opening game.
- Goal Line: For the fifth consecutive season, the ESPN Goal Line network will offer unlimited live cut-ins and highlights from numerous top college football games every Saturday noon to midnight. ESPN will provide a special four-hour edition of Goal Line Thursday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. Zubin Mehenti will host the coverage with analyst Pete Najarian.
ESPN DICK’s Sporting Goods Kickoff Week Game Schedule
You are Looking Live… On-Site Studio
ESPN will provide extensive studio reports and analysis from four game sites, and its studios located in Bristol, Conn.; Charlotte, N.C. and Austin, Texas, over opening weekend. Details:
- Two editions of College Football Live and two ESPN Radio programs will originate from Atlanta, site of Boise State vs. No. 18 Ole Miss in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game Saturday, Aug. 30, at 8 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN Radio.
- On-site studio coverage will begin on Thursday, Aug. 28, with ESPN’s daily College Football Live from the new College Football Hall of Fame (3 p.m. on ESPN2) and a special College Football Live Kick Off pregame from the Georgia Dome (7 p.m. on ESPN). Hosts Scott Van Peltand Chris Cotter with analysts Lou Holtz, Mark May and Brian Griese will all be onsite in Atlanta.
- The ESPN Audio Fall Football Tour — Mike & Mike, The Herd with Colin Cowherd and SVP & Russillo broadcasting live from four anticipated college football games – will kick off with SVP & Russillo – hosted by Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo at 1 p.m. – from Atlanta.
- ESPN Radio’s College GameDay – hosted by Matt Barrie with analysts Brad Edwards and Trevor Matich – will open its season from Atlanta on Saturday, Aug. 30.
- Multiple ESPN shows will originate from Sundance Square in Fort Worth, Texas in advance of the Cowboys Kickoff pitting defending national champion No. 1 Florida State vs. Oklahoma State in Arlington (Saturday, Aug. 30, at 8 p.m. on ABC and ESPN Radio) beginning Friday, Aug. 29.
- SportsCenter segments will begin Friday, Aug. 29, at 9 a.m. and College Football Live will originate from the site at 2:30 p.m.
- College GameDay Built by The Home Depot – with host Chris Fowler, analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack, and reporters Samantha Ponder, Tom Rinaldi, Scott Van Pelt and Gene Wojciechowski – will open its season from Fort Worth on Saturday, Aug. 30 at 9 a.m.
- ESPN and ESPN2 will provide day-long studio coverage from Bristol on Saturday, Aug. 30. Rece Davis will host on ESPN with Holtz and May while Adnan Virk will anchor on ESPN2 with analysts Butch Davis and Robert Smith.
- Host John Saunders and analysts Mack Brown and Danny Kanell will be the ABC Saturday studio crew, appearing on College Football Countdown (3 p.m. ET), and on pre-game, halftime and post-game segments for every ABC game telecast.
- SEC Nation, the new two-hour traveling Saturday morning college football show on SEC Network at 10 a.m., will debut Thursday at 4 p.m. with a special edition from Columbia, S.C., site of No. 21 Texas A&M at No. 9 South Carolina (SEC Network at 6 p.m.). SEC Nation – hosted Joe Tessitore, analysts Tim Tebow and Marcus Spears, and contributors Paul Finebaum and Kaylee Hartung – will originate from Auburn, Ala. Saturday, Aug. 30, at 10 a.m. in advance of Arkansas at Auburn (SEC Network at 4 p.m.)
- ESPN will provide a special one-hour College Football Live at 7 p.m. prior to ESPN’s Labor Day coverage of Miami (Fla.) at Louisville (Sept. 1, at 8 p.m.). Davis will host with Holtz and May.
- Longhorn Network will premiere several new shows throughout the week, including Longhorn Weekly with Charlie Strong with analyst Ricky Williams who won a Heisman with Texas (Friday at 8 p.m.) andRewind with Charlie Strong (Monday at 8 p.m.). In addition, Longhorn legend and BCS National Champion Vince Young will join LHN’s flagship Saturday pre-game show Texas GameDay – originating live from Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium Saturday at 5:30 p.m. – as a weekly analyst.