| ESPNU College Football | |
|---|---|
| Format | Sports |
| Starring | (see below) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 2 hours |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ESPNU |
| Original run | August 25, 2005 – present |
ESPNU College Football is a promotion of NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision college football on ESPNU. ESPNU College Football debuted on August 25, 2005 with a HBCU match-up between Benedict and Morehouse.
ESPNU College Football is made up of five or six games a week, which include: a Thursday night ESPNU College Football Primetime presented by Buffalo Wild Wings at 7pm ET, one or two Saturday afternoon ESPNU College Football presented by Allstate at 12pm ET and 3:30pm ET and two Saturday night ESPNU College Football Primetime presented by Citi at 7pm ET and 10pm ET. ESPNU also has three weekly programs devoted to college football, which include ESPNU Inside the Polls on Monday at 6pm ET, ESPNU Coaches Spotlight on Tuesdays at 12pm ET and ESPNU Recruiting Insider on Fridays at 7:30pm ET.
The different conferences that are included in ESPNU College Football are the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big East, the Big South, the Big Ten, the Colonial Athletic Association, the Mid-American Conference, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, the Ohio Valley Conference, the Southland Conference and the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Contents |
| Game | Play-by-Play | Analyst | Field Reporter | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ESPNU College Football Thursday Primetime | Anish Shroff | Jay Walker | ||
| ESPNU College Football Saturday noon | Rob Stone | Danny Kanell | ||
| ESPNU College Football Saturday afternoon | Pam Ward | Dan Hawkins | ||
| ESPNU College Football SEC Saturday Primetime | Clay Matvick | Brian Griese | Allison Williams | |
| ESPNU College Football late Saturday (HBCU) | Adam Amin | Jay Walker | ||
| ESPNU College Football late Saturday (WAC) | Adam Amin | David Diaz-Infante | ||
| In-Studio Shows | Host | Analyst | ||
| ESPNU College Gameday (9:00am to 10:00am) | Erin Andrews | David Pollack | ||
| ESPNU College Football Scoreboard pre-games, halftimes and post-games | Dari Nowkhah (afternoons), Lowell Galindo (primetime) | Matt Stinchcomb (afternoons), Tom Luginbill or Charles Arbuckle (primetime) |
| Game | Play-by-Play | Analyst | Field Reporter | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ESPNU College Football Thursday Primetime | Anish Shroff | Jay Walker | ||
| ESPNU College Football Saturday noon | Rob Stone | David Pollack | ||
| ESPNU College Football Saturday afternoon | Pam Ward | Danny Kanell | ||
| ESPNU College Football SEC Saturday Primetime | Clay Matvick | Herm Edwards or Mark Schlereth | Elizabeth Moreau or Jessica Mendoza | |
| ESPNU College Football late Saturday | Todd Harris or Mark Neely | David Diaz-Infante or Eddie Robinson Jr. | ||
| In-Studio Shows | Host | Analyst(s) | ||
| ESPNU College Gameday | Erin Andrews (9:00am to 10:00am on ESPNU) | Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, and Desmond Howard | ||
| ESPNU College Football Scoreboard pre-games, halftimes and post-games | Dari Nowkhah (afternoons), Lowell Galindo (primetime) | Matt Stinchcomb (afternoons), Tom Luginbill or Charles Arbuckle (primetime) |
ESPNU launched its college football coverage on August 25, 2005 with a SIAC matchup between Benedict and Morehouse. ESPNU College Football's debut season showcased 75 games from Division I-A conferences such as the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, the MAC, Mountain West, SEC, Sun Belt and the WAC, also Division I FCS and Division II conferences such as the Big Sky, MEAC, Ohio Valley, SIAC, Southern and the SWAC. They also debuted their first college football studio show, ESPNU Inside the Polls. ESPNU also aired coverage of special events such as the Steel City Classic and the Turkey Day Classic.
(All times Eastern)
| Game | Play-by-play | Analyst(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ESPNU College Football Thursday Primetime (7pm) | Charlie Neal | Kelly Stouffer | |
| ESPNU College Football Saturday (12pm) | Wayne Larrivee | Randy Wright | |
| ESPNU College Football Saturday afternoon (3:30pm) | Dave Armstrong | Mike Tomczak | |
| ESPNU College Football Primetime Saturday (7:30pm) | Mike Adamle | Charles Arbuckle | |
| ESPNU College Football Primetime Saturday (10:30pm) | Beth Mowins | David Diaz-Infante | |
| ESPNU College Football select HBCU games | various | Eddie Robinson Jr. or Jay Walker |
ESPNU launched its second season of college football coverage on August 26, 2006 with a matchup between Tuskegee at Stillman. ESPNU College Football featured over 70 games from new conferences such as the Big 12, Gateway and the Ivy League. ESPNU also lost the rights, in 2006, to broadcast teams from Conference USA, the Mountain West and the WAC. Notable personalties joined ESPNU College Football, such as Clay Matvick, Brian Kinchen and Chris Martin. In 2006, ESPNU began utilizing the 1st and Ten technology for select games. They also debuted two new studio shows to go along with ESPNU Inside the Polls, in ESPNU Coaches Spotlight and ESPNU Recruiting Insider. Along with the Steel City Classic, ESPNU also showcased new special events in the Detroit Football Classic, Battle of the Bay and the Walt Disney World Florida Classic.
(All times Eastern)
| Game | Play-by-play | Analyst(s) |
|---|---|---|
| ESPNU College Football Primetime (Thursday, 7pm) | Mike Gleason | Chris Martin |
| ESPNU College Football Primetime (Thursday, 10pm/ HBCU game) | Charlie Neal | Jay Walker |
| ESPNU College Football (Saturday, 12pm) | Clay Matvick | Brian Kinchen |
| ESPNU College Football (Saturday, 3:30pm) | Dave Armstrong | Mike Tomczak |
| ESPNU College Football Primetime (Saturday, 7pm) | Mike Adamle | Charles Arbuckle and David Diaz-Infante |
| ESPNU College Football Primetime (Saturday, 10pm) | Beth Mowins | Eddie Robinson Jr. |
There is much controversy and criticism directed towards ESPN over the fact that the October 21 game between Indiana and Ohio State was broadcast exclusively on ESPNU, and wasn't be broadcast on local TV anywhere in the US, not even in the Columbus, Ohio and Bloomington, Indiana areas. As of the week of the game, Ohio State is undefeated and ranked #1 in all[1] Most fans consider Indiana to be the football doormat of the Big Ten Conference based on performance in recent years. However, on October 14, just one week before this game, the Indiana Hoosiers defeated Iowa (then #15-ranked)31-28, in what many consider a very shocking upset. The fact that Ohio State was a national championship contender and that Indiana was better than what most fans thought they would be had fans of both schools stunned and angry that ESPN wouldn't be allowing ABC Regional coverage of the game. Many cable providers do not carry ESPNU, so some say that this is simply a marketing tactic by ESPN, attempting to get more people and cable providers to carry and subscribe to ESPNU.[2]
On October 31, 2006, ESPNU college football commentator Brian Kinchen was suspended from calling games for one week, because of a comment he made during an October 28 game broadcast of the Northern Illinois-Iowa game. Kinchen was explaining the need for receivers to make catches with their hands, because they are "tender" and can "caress" the ball. He then paused and said, "that's kind of gay, but hey."
"The comments were inappropriate, and we apologize for them," said ESPN's vice president of public relations Josh Krulewitz. "They were completely inappropriate and not at all a reflection of who I am or the way I perform my work," Kinchen said in a statement issued by ESPN. "I have learned from my mistake and look forward to continuing my broadcasting career."
His future with the network is currently under review.[3]