Here’s what many of you have been waiting for, the announcing teams for ESPN/ABC’s college football. As usual, Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit will be the “A” team on Saturday Night Football on ABC and they’ll go all the way to the BCS National Championship Game (the last one before we begin the college football playoff next season). The always consistent Heather Cox is back to be the sideline reporter.
The other roving announcing teams will include:
Brad Nessler/Todd Blackledge/Holly Rowe — ESPN Primetime
Joe Tessitore/Matt Millen (why?)/Maria Taylor — ESPN Primetime
Mark Jones/Brock Huard/Kaylee Hartung or Jessica Mendoza — ESPN2 Primetime
Clay Matvick/Matt Stinchcomb/Dawn Davenport — ESPNU Primetime
Rece Davis/Jesse Palmer/David Pollack/Samantha Ponder — ESPN Thursday Night Football
Carter Blackburn/Danny Kanell/Allison Williams — ESPN/ESPN2 Friday Night Football
Sean McDonough/Chris Spielman/Shannon Spake — ABC Saturday Afternoon
Mike Patrick/Ed Cunningham/Jeannine Edwards — ABC Saturday Afternoon
Some changes from last year. Rod Gilmore moves from Friday nights to Saturday afternoons on ABC with Bob Wischusen. Danny Kanell who was on Saturdays, moves to Fridays with Carter Blackburn. Allison Williams joins the Friday night crew replacing Jemele Hill who will be mostly on First Take and the Sports Reporters. And Kelly Stouffer becomes a full-time analyst after working select games last year.
Here’s the press release.
ESPN’s 2013 College Football Game Announcer Pairings Unveiled
Gilmore & Kanell in New Roles; Herbstreit, Musburger, Blackledge, Palmer, Spielman, Nessler, McDonough, Griese, Cunningham and More Return
ESPN’s 2013 college football game coverage will include the return of a deep roster of knowledgeable and experienced commentators working familiar assignments across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPNEWS, ESPN Radio and ESPN Regional Television.Assignment changes are highlighted by analysts Rod Gilmore and Danny Kanell in new roles. Gilmore will move from ESPN’s weekly Friday night series to Saturday afternoon matchups on ABC and ESPN with Bob Wischusen and reporter Quint Kessenich. Kanell, who called Saturday telecasts last season, will move to Fridays with returning commentator Carter Blackburn and reporter Allison Williams, who joins the crew from her ESPNU Saturday night game last season. In addition, analyst Kelly Stouffer, who worked select games last year, will join Anish Shroff on the weekly ESPNU Saturday afternoon telecasts.Highlights:
- All four Saturday prime-time telecasts on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will feature the return of the play-by-play and analyst pairing.
- Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit will work their eighth season together – and second with reporter Heather Cox – on the ABC Saturday Night Football series, the highest-rated and most-viewed college football series among all networks in 2012.
- Brad Nessler and Todd Blackledge will work their fifth season together on the Saturday ESPN College Football Primetime telecast while reporter Holly Rowe returns for her fourth on the series.
- Mark Jones and Brock Huard will pair up on the weekly ESPN2 prime-time game for the second consecutive season. Jessica Mendoza and Kaylee Hartung will split reporting duties.
- Clay Matvick and Matt Stinchcomb will return for their second year on the ESPNU prime-time game with reporter Dawn Davenport, her first with ESPN.
- The Thursday ESPN College Football Primetime series will be called by commentator Rece Davis, analysts Jesse Palmer and David Pollack, and reporter Samantha Ponder for the second season.
- Several reporters will join existing commentator and analyst pairings, including:
- Maria Taylor, who will move from a Saturday afternoon ABC telecast, will join Joe Tessitore and Matt Millen on the second season of an additional package of Saturday night games, primarily on ESPN.
- Shannon Spake, who will work a full season of college football games for the first time, will pair with Sean McDonough and Chris Spielman on an ABC Saturday afternoon telecast.
- Paul Carcaterra will join Beth Mowins and analyst Joey Galloway on ESPN2’s weekly noon series.
- Tom Luginbill, who also provides in-depth recruiting analysis across ESPN platforms, will serve as a sideline analyst on ESPN’s noon telecast with the returning duo of Dave Pasch and Brian Griese.
ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN Radio & ESPN Regional Television Announcer Pairings
Note: Additional commentators will contribute throughout the season.
Game Telecast Play-by-play Analyst Reporter Saturday Night Football (on ABC) Brent Musburger Kirk Herbstreit Heather Cox ESPN College Football Primetime (Saturday) Brad Nessler Todd Blackledge Holly Rowe ESPN Saturday Prime Time Joe Tessitore Matt Millen Maria Taylor ESPN2 College Football Primetime (Saturday) Mark Jones Brock Huard Jessica Mendoza or Kalyee Hartung ESPNU Saturday Prime Time Clay Matvick Matt Stinchcomb Dawn Davenport ESPN College Football Primetime (Thursday) Rece Davis Jesse Palmer and David Pollack Samantha Ponder ESPN and ESPN2 Friday Carter Blackburn Danny Kanell Allison Williams ABC Saturday Afternoon Sean McDonough Chris Spielman Shannon Spake ABC Saturday Afternoon Mike Patrick Ed Cunningham Jeannine Edwards ABC Saturday Afternoon Bob Wischusen Rod Gilmore Quint Kessenich ESPN College Football (Saturday afternoon) Dave Pasch Brian Griese Tom Luginbill ESPN2 College Football (Saturday afternoon) Beth Mowins Joey Galloway Paul Carcaterra ESPNU Saturday Afternoon Tom Hart John Congemi ESPNU Saturday Afternoon Anish Shroff Kelly Stouffer ESPNU Thursday (HBCU) Mark Neely Jay Walker ESPNU Late Saturday Joe Davis David Diaz-Infante ESPN Radio Bill Rosinski David Norrie Joe Schad SEC Network (ESPN Regional Television syndicated games) Dave Neal Andre Ware Cara Capuano American Athletic Conference Network (ESPN Regional Television syndicated games) Eamon McAnaney Anthony Becht Brooke Weisbrod The 2013 college football season on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPNEWS, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN Radio, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN Regional Television and ESPN GamePlan will total more than 450 regular-and post-season games, concluding with the entire Bowl Championship Series, including the BCS National Championship, on ESPN and ESPN Radio. The schedule will include weekly Saturday night games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, weekly ESPN and ESPNU Thursday night contests and telecasts every Friday.
There you have it.
