The College Football Playoff is the NCAA’s biggest Saturday of the year, and ESPN is making sure no stone goes unturned when it comes to the FBS’s final four. This year’s megacast will give viewers up to a dozen different ways to watch 2018’s Cotton and Orange Bowls as college football’s top division whittles its list of potential champions from four to two.
College Football Playoff megacast: Times, TV channels, streaming options
Only watching the playoffs on one channel is so 2016.
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ESPN’s coverage will provide everything from coaches’ commentary to pylon cams to an overhead view from the SkyCam in order to provide a comprehensive breakdown of all things football as the playoff gets underway.
All of these things are available at WatchESPN, in addition to channels provided by your local cable operator. This year’s highlights include:
- Veteran announcers Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will call the Orange Bowl, with sideline reporter Maria Taylor focusing her coverage on Alabama and Laura Rutledge delivering news from the Sooners.
- Sean McDonough will make his College Football Playoff debut when he teams with Todd Blackledge at the Cotton Bowl Classic. Holly Rowe will report on Clemson, while Tom Rinaldi will provide updates on Notre Dame.
- More than 50 cameras will provide footage from each game, including multiple cameras on each end zone pylon and the debut of the RefCam, which is exactly what it sounds like.
- Line-to-Gain Pylon Cams, which will be set up at the line where teams need to cross in order to earn a first down and should help determine tricky spots on short yardage plays.
- The All-22 view, which gives viewers the same vantage point from high above the field players and coaches use in film study after the game.
- The Coaches Film Room, in which current and former FBS coaches review the action on the field and add their own takes.
- and something called Thinking Out Loud which due to its reliance on the commentary of Greg McElroy should be watched by no one.
Additionally, the Hometown Audio Feed, which is available online through ESPN3, will pair the ESPN broadcast with local radio calls. Here’s this year’s list of broadcasters who will be streamed through ESPN:
- Alabama: Eli Gold, John Parker Wilson, Rashad Johnson and Chris Stewart
- Clemson: Don Munson, Rodney Williams and Reggie Merriweather
- Notre Dame: Paul Burmeister, Ryan Harris and Jack Nolan
- Oklahoma: Toby Rowland, Teddy Lehman, Merv Johnson, Chris Plank and Gabe Ikard
For the full lineup of College Football Playoff coverage, check out WatchESPN.
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