ESPN rings in the new year with signature MegaCast presentation of College Football Playoff quarterfinal showdowns, Dec. 31-Jan. 1

ESPN will present more than two dozen total bids during the first-ever quarterfinal matchups of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff on Tuesday, Dec. 31 and Wednesday, Jan. 1, thanks to ESPN’s signature CFP MegaCast production. The main telecast for all four games will be presented on ESPN, with additional viewing options on ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, SEC Network, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes and the ESPN app.

Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show Presenting MegaCast deals from Pasadena
For the third season in a row is the MegaCast fan favorite Field pass returns to the College Football Playoff. Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show will offer entertaining, free-flowing commentary on the CFP quarter-finals at the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential on ESPN2, featuring top-seeded Oregon and No. 8 Ohio State. Pat McAfee will anchor coverage and call the action as you roam the sidelines of the Rose Bowl. He will be joined by a rotation of ESPN analysts, notables and celebrities throughout the game. His fasting The Pat McAfee Show crew of AJ Hawk, Darius Butler, Connor Campbell, Ty Schmit and Tone Digsis set to join McAfee from “The Granddaddy of Them All”.

New to this year’s presentation of the College Football Playoff is the integration of MindFly technology during the Playoff quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl Game, presented by Prudential and the Allstate Sugar Bowl. ESPN will place MindFly BodyCams on three officials (referee, center and linesman) to provide viewers with unprecedented, decisive images of close games throughout these two CFP quarterfinals and will be featured as part of AT&T’s “Connected Cam” sponsorship. The wearable camera technology uses an AI-stabilized POV camera with a built-in microphone.

Additional alternate presentations (all available on the ESPN app):

• Command Center (ESPN2 – Fiesta, Peach, Sugar/ESPNU – Rose): A multi-angle presentation that includes up to four different vantage points at any given time, with real-time player and team statistics to complement the game action.
• SkyCast (ESPNU – Fiesta, Peach, Sugar/ESPNEWS – Rose): The popular view from above the action and behind the offense on most plays. This unique angle has long been one of ESPN’s alternate viewing options and is readily available on multiple games each week. Replays will be shown whenever the main broadcast presents a replay without losing the view from SkyCam.
  • For the first time, Vrbo will present the SkyCast offer for the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve. This AltCast will bring Vrbo’s “no host” theme to life and will also include a QR code to enter fans for a chance to win four (4) tickets to the 2025 CFP National Championship on Monday, January 20th. as well as $15,000 OneKeyCash.

CFP Marching Bands on the ESPN App
For the fourth year in a row, halftime marching band performances at the College Football Playoff will be available on the ESPN app. The sights and sounds of the Blue Thunder Marching Band, Penn State Blue Band, Sun Devil Marching Band, Longhorn Band, Oregon Marching Band, Ohio State University Marching Band, Georgia Redcoat Marching Band and Band of Fighting Irish will stream live from their respective College Football Playoff -quarterfinals via the All-22 view.

Commentators ready for quarter-final showdown
In addition to ESPN’s many presentations, fans will be able to hear the CFP Quarterfinals call from a host of broadcast teams:

• Main Telecast (ESPN): ESPN’s top commentary team of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe beside Stormy Buonantony is on call to Playoff quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential. Bob Wischusen, Louis Riddick, Kris Budden and Tom Luginbill will announce the playoff quarterfinals at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. Kick off New Year’s Day CFP action is Joe Tessitore, Jesse Palmer, Katie George and Taylor McGregor at the Playoff Quarterfinals at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, while Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, Molly McGrath and Laura Rutledge End the night at the Playoff Quarterfinals at the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
• ESPN Radio (ESPN App): The broadcast of all four quarterfinals is available nationwide on more than 400 ESPN Radio stations, the ESPN app, ESPNRadio.comSiriusXM, Apple Music, iHeartRadio and TuneIn.

• • Penn State/Boise State: Mike Couzens, Max Starks, Lauren Sisler
  • Texas/Arizona State: Anish Shroff, Andre Ware, Paul Carcaterra
  • Ohio State/Oregon: Marc Kestecher, Kelly Stouffer, Ian Fitzsimmons
  • Notre Dame/Georgia: Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers, Cole Cubelic
• Hometown Audio (SEC Network): Texas and Georgia fans can listen to the local radio broadcast of the Texas and Georgia quarterfinals, with their audio feed synchronized with ESPN’s SkyCast presentation on the SEC Network. This MegaCast feed is made possible in conjunction with the Longhorn Radio Network Powered by LEARFIELD and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network from IMG College, featuring Craig Way, Roger Wallace and Will Matthews for the Longhorns and Scott Howard, Eric Zeier and DJ Shockley for the Bulldogs.
• Spanish Showcases (ESPN Deportes/ESPN App): All four quarterfinals include Spanish-language calls with Eduardo Varela and Pablo Viruega (Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and Rose Bowl presented by Prudential), Eitan Benezra and Alex Pombo (Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl) and Javier Trejo Garay and Miquel Pasquel (Allstate Sugar Bowl) .

Studio shows set for quarterfinal round on ESPN and SEC Network
College GameDay built by home The Depot continues its Playoff run with a special edition stemming from the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl game presented by Prudential on Wednesday, January 1 (10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.). Rece Davis leads the show in its 10th season at the helm, together at the desk of GameDay analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban. Journalists Jen Lada and Jess Simscollege football insider Pete Thamel and college football betting analyst ‘Stanford Steve’ Coughlin round out GameDay on-air crew for the quarterfinals. ESPN will offer study wraps all day on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day around the Common Fisheries Policy.

The SEC Network will also have on-site studio programming for the CFP Quarterfinals with Texas and Georgia, with all shows presented by Allstate. Monday 30 Dec. SEC this morning hosted by Peter Burns and Chris Doering will be live from SEC Network’s Charlotte studios beginning at 9 a.m. to noon, with real-time coverage of CFP Quarterfinal Media Days prior to Texas/Arizona State and Notre Dame/Georgia. The Paul Finebaum Show will be live from New Orleans from 3-7pm Monday and Tuesday with an abbreviated show on Wednesday surrounding SEC teams in the quarterfinals.

Dari Nowkhah, Chris Doering and Benjamin Watson will have viewers covered from Atlanta to the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, while Laura Rutledge, Paul Finebaum, Roman Harper, Tim Tebow and Jordan Rodgers post up in New Orleans for the Allstate Sugar Bowl. SEC now will have perspective from both sets from 19-20 New Year’s Eve, while the trio Nowkhah, Doering and Watson will be live from dinner on New Year’s Day from Atlanta and Mercedes-Benz Stadium. SEC Nation with Rutledge, Marty Smith, Finebaum, Harper, Tebow and Rodgers will kick off at 7 p.m. from Caesars Superdome, and the crew of Smith, Harper and Tebow will cover halftime. SEC Football Finals is set to wrap up the action at the end of the evening from the Big Easy.

Digital programming posts leading up to the postseason
Matt Simms, Sam Ravech and Skubie Mageza will host a post-game digital show called the ending, at the end of each round. Live from Bristol, Conn. studios, the trio will follow the final match of the day and break down all the action. The show can be streamed live on YouTube, Facebook and the ESPN app and will be live on January 1st, January 10th and January 20th. Kickoffwith Gary Striewski and Randy Scottconcludes the college football season with two remaining episodes on Dec. 27 and Jan. 17 at 11 a.m

Second episode of ESPN Original Inside the College Football Playoff presented by Capital One Drops December 27th on ESPN+ (Watch trailer)
Expanded to five episodes this winter with an hour-long season premiere, Inside the College Football Playoff presented by Capital One returns to ESPN+. Section 1 gave fans the chance to relive the incredible journeys of this year’s top teams and explore how college football evolved into this exciting new era. Episode 2 – Bring It Home, which debuts Friday, December 27, takes viewers on campus for the CFP First Round as fans experience the excitement of a homestand with postseason implications. Episodes can also be streamed on Disney+ and will be rebroadcast on ESPN and ESPN2. Upcoming ESPN+ premiere dates for the final three episodes are Tuesday, January 7, Wednesday, January 15 and Friday, January 24.

ESPN and TSN team up to bring the CFP to the big screen
ESPN has expanded its theatrical distribution agreement with Theater Sports Network (TSN) to present all 11 College Football Playoff (CFP) games. To find your local listings, visit TheaterSportsNetwork.com. In addition, Cosm locations in Los Angeles and Dallas will also offer immersive viewing experiences for games throughout this year’s College Football Playoff.

The exclusive home of the CFP since the event debuted in 2015, ESPN extended its current package through the 2025-26 season and extended its rights deal through the 2031-32 season, adding all four games of the new CFP First Round each year to ESPN’s existing New Year’s Six games (now playoff quarterfinals and playoff semifinals) and the CFP National Championship.