College Football: No. 3 Louisville at No. 5 Clemson Highlights Three Top 10 Throwdowns on ESPN/ABC’s Historic Week 5 Schedule
- Three Top 10 Conference Matchups in Same Week for First Time in Nearly 40 Years
- ESPN Blankets the Marquee Games with SportsCenter, College Football Countdown, and College GameDay Built by The Home Depot
A historic weekend is on tap for college football as three Top 10 throwdowns – all between conference opponents – will be played in the same week for the first time in nearly 40 years and ESPN/ABC will air all three games: No. 3 Louisville at No. 5 Clemson on ABC’s Saturday Night Football, No. 7 Stanford at No. 10 Washington on Friday night (ESPN) and No. 8 Wisconsin at No. 4 Michigan (ABC) on Saturday afternoon.
No. 7 Stanford at No. 10 Washington
- 7 Stanford at No. 10 Washington on Friday, Sept. 30, (9 p.m. ET on ESPN) faceoff in a Pac-12 North Division showdown. Joe Tessitore, Todd Blackledge, and Holly Rowe will be in Seattle to call the game from Husky Stadium. Prior to the game, SportsCenter (6 p.m. – 8 p.m.) will have a presence from the stadium with anchors Jay Crawford and reporter Shelley Smith. College Football Countdown (8 p.m.) will lead into kick off.
No.8 Wisconsin at No. 4 Michigan
- 8 Wisconsin at No. 4 Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 1, (3:30 p.m. on ABC) features a matchup of undefeated Big Ten foes. Dave Flemming or Steve Levy** will call the game, alongside Brian Griese and Todd McShay from Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich. Zubin Mehenti and Dan Murphy will be on location to provide reports for SportsCenter on Saturday morning.
ABC’s Saturday Night Football: No. 3 Louisville at No. 5 Clemson
- ABC’s Saturday Night Football will feature dueling Heisman quarterback contenders when Lamar Jackson and the No. 3 Louisville Cardinals travel to face Deshaun Watson and the No. 5 Clemson Tigers (8 p.m.) in an ACC Atlantic Division showdown. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Samantha Ponder will be at Memorial Stadium for the call. Saturday morning, SportsCenter (7 a.m.) will have Matt Barrie, Marty Smith and Jeannine Edwards on-location, leading into College GameDay Built by the Home Depot (9 a.m. – noon) which makes its second consecutive week 5 appearance in Clemson (Notre Dame at Clemson in 2015).
Week 5 is the earliest in a season that a single week has featured three Top 10 matchups – in or out of conference play. The last season the scheduled feature three Top 10 games in a single week was in 2002.
Additional ESPN/ABC Week 5 Highlights
In addition to the Top 10 matchups, ESPN’s networks will also air No. 1 Alabama, No. 6 Houston, and No. 9 Texas A&M this week:
- 1 Alabama will host Kentucky in the Crimson Tide’s first SEC home game of the season (7 p.m. on ESPN).
- 6 Houston will host Connecticut on Thursday, Sept. 29, as the Cougars attempt to avenge their only loss from the 2015 season (8 p.m. on ESPN).
- 9 Texas A&M, coming off back-to-back SEC victories, will be on the road at South Carolina (4 p.m. on SEC Network).
Also, No. 12 Florida State hosts North Carolina (ESPN) and No. 15 Nebraska will play Illinois (ESPN2) in key ACC and Big Ten matchups. Both games kick off at 3:30 p.m.
All games Saturday, Oct. 1 unless noted
ESPN/ABC College Football Week 5 Schedule
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Network |
| Thu, Sept. 29 | 7 p.m. | Mississippi College at Delta State | ESPN3* |
| 7:30 p.m. | Hampton at North Carolina AT&T Eric Clemons, Jay Walker |
ESPNU | |
| 8 p.m. | Connecticut at No. 6 Houston Dave Flemming, Jesse Palmer, Laura Rutledge |
ESPN | |
| Fri, Sept. 30 | 7 p.m. | Georgetown at Harvard | ESPN3* |
| 9 p.m. | No. 7 Stanford at No. 10 Washington Joe Tessitore, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe |
ESPN and ESPN Radio | |
| 10:15 p.m. | Toledo at BYU Adam Amin, Mack Brown, Molly McGrath |
ESPN2 | |
| Sat, Oct. 1 | Noon | No. 22 Texas at Oklahoma State Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham, Dr. Jerry Punch |
ABC |
| Notre Dame at Syracuse Bob Wischusen, Brock Huard, Allison Williams |
ESPN | ||
| No. 14 Miami at Georgia Tech Allen Bestwick, Mike Bellotti, Kris Budden |
ESPN2 | ||
| Northwestern at Iowa Eamon McAnaney, John Congemi |
ESPNU | ||
| No. 23 Florida at Vanderbilt Tom Hart, Andre Ware, Cole Cubelic |
SEC Network | ||
| Alcorn State at No. 20 Arkansas Mike Morgan, Clint Stoerner, Kevin Weidl |
SEC Network Alternate | ||
| SMU at Temple Mike Couzens, Dan Hawkins |
ESPNEWS | ||
| Georgia State at Appalachian State | ESPN3* | ||
| MidAmerica Nazarene at Grand View | ESPN3* | ||
| 12:30 p.m. | Virginia at Duke | ACC Network Extra* | |
| 1 p.m. | Buffalo at Boston College Alex Faust, Matt Chatham |
ACC Network Extra | |
| Duquesne at Jacksonville | ESPN3 | ||
| 1:30 p.m. | Mercer at VMI | ESPN3 | |
| 2 p.m. | Illinois State at North Dakota State | ESPN3* | |
| Edinboro at Clarion | ESPN3* | ||
| 2:30 p.m. | Ohio at Miami (Ohio) | ESPN3* | |
| 3 p.m. | Wofford at Samford | ESPN3 | |
| Missouri State at Indiana State | ESPN3 | ||
| Kennesaw State at Furman | ESPN3 | ||
| Eastern Michigan at Bowling Green Jim Barber, John Gregory |
ESPN3 | ||
| Tennessee-Martin at Tennessee State | ESPN3 | ||
| 3:30 p.m. | No. 8 Wisconsin at No. 4 Michigan Steve Levy or Dave Flemming, Brian Griese and Todd McShay |
ABC | |
| North Carolina at No. 12 Florida State Mark Jones, Rod Gilmore, Quint Kessenich |
ESPN | ||
| Illinois at No. 15 Nebraska Dave Lamont, Kelly Stouffer, Paul Carcaterra |
ESPN2 | ||
| Kansas State at West Virginia Clay Matvick, Dusty Dvoracek |
ESPNU | ||
| Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn Taylor Zarzour, Jordan Rodgers, Lauren Sisler |
SEC Network Alternate | ||
| Wake Forest at NC State | ACC Network Extra* | ||
| Akron at Kent State Michael Reghi, Dustin Fox |
ESPN3 | ||
| Northern Illinois at Ball State | ESPN3* | ||
| No. 11 Tennessee at No. 25 Georgia Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, Ian Fitzsimmons |
ESPN Radio | ||
| The Citadel at Western Carolina | ESPN3 | ||
| 4 p.m. | No. 9 Texas A&M at South Carolina David Neal, Matt Stinchcomb, Olivia Harlan |
SEC Network | |
| Stephen F. Austin at Sam Houston State from NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas | ESPN3 | ||
| Southern Illinois at Northern Iowa | ESPN3* | ||
| South Dakota at Youngstown State | ESPN3* | ||
| 5 p.m. | Troy at Idaho Shawn Kenney, Al Groh |
ESPN3 | |
| 6 p.m. | Sacred Heart at Wagner | ESPN3 | |
| Catawba at Newberry | ESPN3 | ||
| 7 p.m. | Kentucky at No. 1 Alabama Dave Pasch, Greg McElroy, Tom Luginbill |
ESPN | |
| Memphis at No. 16 Ole Miss Anish Shroff, Ahmad Brooks |
ESPN2 or SEC Network Alternate** | ||
| South Florida at Cincinnati Mark Neely, Ray Bentley |
ESPNU | ||
| Western Illinois at South Dakota State | ESPN3 | ||
| Nicholls at McNeese | ESPN3* | ||
| Robert Morris at Liberty | ESPN3* | ||
| West Georgia at North Alabama | ESPN3 | ||
| 7:30 p.m. | Missouri at LSU Brent Musburger, Jesse Palmer, Kaylee Hartung |
SEC Network | |
| Marshall at Pittsburgh | ACC Network Extra* | ||
| Incarnate Word at Texas State | ESPN3* | ||
| 8 p.m. | No. 3 Louisville at No. 5 Clemson Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Samantha Ponder |
ABC | |
| No. 19 San Diego State at South Alabama Joel Meyers, Brian Kinchen |
ESPNEWS | ||
| Louisiana-Lafayette at New Mexico State Drew Fellios, Forrest Conoly |
ESPN3 | ||
| Southeastern Louisiana at Lamar | ESPN3 | ||
| 10:15 p.m. | Utah State at No. 24 Boise State Roy Philpott, Tom Ramsey |
ESPN2 | |
| Wyoming at Colorado State Mike Corey, Rene Ingoglia |
ESPNU | ||
| 10:30 p.m. | Arizona at UCLA Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht, Rocky Boiman |
ESPN |
*ESPN3 or ACC Network Extra Non-Exclusive Game
** If no World Cup of Hockey Finals Game 3 is needed, Memphis at No. 16 Ole Miss will air on ESPN2 and Steve Levy will work with his regular college football crew for the Wisconsin-Michigan game. If Game 3 is needed, than Tigers-Rebels matchup airs on SEC Network Alternate and Dave Flemming calls Badgers-Wolverines matchup.
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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; [email protected] and @DerekVolner
