- Over 12 hours of live studio programming on Championship Monday to preview and analyze the CFP National Championship
- College GameDay Built by The Home Depot headlines the studio show lineup originating from Mercedes-Benz Stadium
- First Take and The Pat McAfee Show kick off the CFP pregame lineup and SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt wraps the day in Atlanta
ESPN’s expansive studio programming surrounding the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T begins this weekend leading up to the clash between No. 8 Ohio State and No. 7 Notre Dame on Monday, Jan. 20. ESPN platforms will present more than 12 hours of on-site analysis and exclusive access live from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Championship Monday, as the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish prepare for the long-awaited season finale. Studio coverage begins at 10 a.m. ET and will continue past the trophy raising with reactions on the title game.
College GameDay Live from the CFP National Championship
College GameDay Built by The Home Depot – coming off the most-viewed regular season in its 38-year history – will be live from Atlanta with a two-hour special edition ahead of the National Championship. The premier pregame show will kick off on Monday at 5 p.m., on ESPN.
Rece Davis caps his 10th season at the helm, joined at the desk by GameDay analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and recently named College Football Hall of Fame honoree Nick Saban. Reporters Jen Lada and Jess Sims, along with college football insider Pete Thamel and college football betting analyst ‘Stanford Steve’ Coughlin, round out the GameDay on-air crew during the Champ show.
Highlights Include:
- The two Championship head coaches – Ohio State’s Ryan Day and Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman – will join the pregame show ahead of the title bout.
- Sims will share the story of a fan who will be attending his 104th college football game this season.
- Country music singer Kane Brown will perform a pregame concert with two songs featured on the show, including his hit single “Miles on It.”
- Stanford Steve closes out the season with his pregame prop bets on Monday after compiling an impressive 36-21 record for the season.
- Herbstreit will be joined by Chris Fowler live from the field during pregame warm-ups before the duo head to the booth for their 11th CFP National Championship call.
- Corso will finish the show with his legendary headgear notching his 430th all-time pick. Corso went an impressive 12-4 with his mascot picks this season, including a combined 5-0 when picking Ohio State (3-0) and Notre Dame (2-0).
College GameDay Features:
- Tiger’s Time – Tiger Bech was an All-Ivy League kick returner at Princeton. He was a brother and a son. He was a teammate, a best friend and someone who lived life to the fullest while embracing the now and living in the moment. He was also a victim of the attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day. Those closest to Tiger share who he was and how his legacy will live on. Marty Smith reports.
- Jack Sawyer: JBSSTRONG – Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer honors a 17-year-old boy named Jack Bennett Sawyer who passed away from cancer in 2023 after an 18-month fight. Sawyer has been writing the mantra JBSSTRONG on his wrist tape before each game since 2023 and will do the same in the National Championship to support and remember the fan who shares his name. Jen Lada reports.
- The Rise of Marcus Freeman – Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman has quickly ascended to become one of college football’s most high-profile head coaches. His journey to the National Championship stems from his diverse upbringing as the son of a United States Air Force Veteran and a Korean mother. The 39-year-old father of six now prepares for a championship game against a team he knows very well – his alma mater Ohio State. Pete Thamel reports.
- Pat’s Chat – Pat McAfee sits down with Marcus Freeman and Ryan Day together to talk Monday’s National Championship game, the Buckeyes’ and Fighting Irish’s road to New Orleans, their familiarity with each other and what each team needs to do to leave their mark on Monday.
- The Four Horsemen Ride Again? – It was 100 years ago this month that Notre Dame won its first National Championship, led by a backfield that famed sportswriter Grantland Rice dubbed “The Four Horsemen.” Now a century later, outlined against a gold, scarlet and gray Atlanta sky, might the magic of the Four Horsemen ride again? Ryan McGee reports.
Live From Atlanta
Championship Monday kicks off with a pair of studio shows live from Atlanta. ESPN’s signature morning debate show First Take with featured commentator and executive producer Stephen A. Smith and host Molly Qerim will start the morning at 10 a.m. live at the College Football Playoff National Championship in Atlanta at Playoff Fan Central inside the Georgia World Congress Center. The duo will be joined by Shannon Sharpe and Cam Newton – with potential special guest appearances along the way.
ESPN’s regular afternoon lineup continues with The Pat McAfee Show live from Mercedes-Benz Stadium following First Take. McAfee is joined by A.J. Hawk, Connor Campbell, Ty Schmit, Tone Digs, Darius Butler and Evan Fox, amongst guests. The show is simulcast from noon – 2 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN on YouTube and ESPN+, with the final 2-3ish p.m. hour airing on ESPN+ and The Pat McAfee Show channel on YouTube presented by ESPN.
Host Matt Barrie teams up with Sam Acho, Joey Galloway, Molly McGrath and Holly Rowe, alongside Coughlin, Sims and Thamel, for a one-hour presentation of College Football Live Built by The Home Depot (2 p.m., ESPN) while Kevin Negandhi, Booger McFarland, Greg McElroy, McGrath, Rowe and Thamel take over at 3 p.m. for Championship Drive live from Atlanta.
Barrie, Galloway and McElroy also will also host Path to the Playoff: Ohio State and Path to the Playoff: Notre Dame to kick off championship coverage in Atlanta this weekend. The 30-minute specials will take a look back on the Buckeyes’ and Fighting Irish’s journeys to the National Championship. Ohio State’s iterations of the show will air on Saturday at 10:00 p.m. (ESPN) and Sunday at 3 p.m. (ABC), while Notre Dame’s will follow at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday (ESPN) and 3:30 p.m. (ABC).
In addition to the 5 p.m. edition of College GameDay, Davis, Howard and Saban return at halftime of the National Championship game for a mid-way breakdown of the game.
ESPN’s main telecast will headline the signature MegaCast production with 11 different presentations of the CFP National Championship across ESPN platforms. Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show returns following its presentation of the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential where they notched the largest audience for any ESPN alternate telecast on record with 2.4 million viewers.
Championship Monday closes out the weekend coverage with a special edition of SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt live from Atlanta with immediate reactions from the title game.
Digital Programming Delivers
Countdown to the CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T will be an hour-long preview show leading into the National Championship on Jan. 20, featuring Atlanta’s own Harry Douglas and Harry Lyles Jr. alongside Christine Williamson. The show will be live, on-site in Atlanta and available to stream on digital platforms (YouTube, Facebook and the ESPN App) beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Matt Simms, Sam Ravech and Skubie Mageza will host The Wrap-Up post-game digital show. Live from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., studios, the trio will breakdown all the action of the game. The show will be available to stream live on YouTube, Facebook and the ESPN App.
ESPN Radio with On-Site Pregame Coverage
CFB Tailgate with Amber Wilson, Jonathan Zaslow and Rashad Jennings will be in Atlanta for the CFP National Championship for a 3-6:30 p.m. show on Monday leading into the title game.
ESPN Studio Coverage at the College Football Playoff National Championship in Atlanta:^
| Date | Time (ET) | Programming | Platform |
| Sat, Jan 18 | 10 p.m. | Path to the Playoff: Ohio State | ESPN |
| 10:30 p.m. | Path to the Playoff: Notre Dame | ESPN | |
| Sun, Jan 19 | 3 p.m. | Path to the Playoff: Ohio State | ABC |
| 3:30 p.m. | Path to the Playoff: Notre Dame | ABC | |
| 8 p.m. | Championship Drive: Countdown to Kickoff Presented by AT&T | ESPN | |
| Mon, Jan 20 | 10 a.m. | First Take | ESPN |
| Noon | The Pat McAfee Show | ESPN | |
| 2 p.m. | College Football Live Built by The Home Depot | ESPN | |
| 3 p.m. | Championship Drive Presented by AT&T | ESPN | |
| 5 p.m. | College GameDay Built by The Home Depot | ESPN | |
| 6:30 p.m. | Countdown to the CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T | ESPN YouTube/ Facebook/ESPN App |
|
| 7 p.m. | Ram Trucks Pregame | ESPN/ESPN2/ ESPNU/ESPNews |
|
| 7:30 p.m. | AT&T Pregame Showcase | ESPN | |
| 7:30 p.m. | College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T | ESPN | |
| 7:30 p.m. | Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show | ESPN2 | |
| Halftime* | Mercedes-Benz Halftime Report | ESPN | |
| Postgame* | Ram Trucks Postgame | ESPN | |
| Postgame* | College Football Final | ESPNU | |
| Postgame* | The Wrap-Up | ESPN YouTube/ Facebook/ESPN App |
|
| 11:30 p.m. | SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt | ESPN |
*All post-game and halftime timing is approximate
^Additional game coverage to be announced throughout the Playoffs
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