The college football calendar turns to October in Week 5, and the broadcast assignments are locked in for a slate packed with ranked matchups and familiar national windows.
The biggest spotlight games come with the biggest crews. CBS will have Brad Nessler, Charles Davis and Jenny Dell on Iowa’s showdown with Ohio State in Iowa City, while ABC’s top Saturday window features Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy and Katie George for Alabama against Mississippi State. NBC also gets a prime-time old Pac-12 matchup at The Coliseum, where Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge and Kathryn Tappen will be on the call for Washington-USC.
Friday night opens with an ACC game on ESPN, as Pitt heads to Virginia Tech and Mike Monaco, Jordan Rodgers and Dana Boyle handle the broadcast in Blacksburg. Pitt enters at 4-0 after a shutout of Bucknell, while Virginia Tech beat Boston College in rough weather during a nor’easter. That matchup will be the second conference game for both teams.
FOX has the second broadcast team of Connor Onion, Robert Griffin III and Alexa Landestoy for Penn State at Northwestern on Friday night, with the Wildcats unveiling New Ryan Field. Northwestern was in FOX’s Friday night slot last week against Indiana, and Penn State is trying to recover after an upset loss at home to Wisconsin in Week 4.
Saturday’s early window also includes Florida at Missouri on ABC, with Joe Tessitore, Jesse Palmer and Kris Budden in the booth. Florida comes in after a big home win over Ole Miss and a jump up the rankings, while Missouri is coming off a primetime loss to Mississippi State in Starkville.
At the same 3:30 p.m. ET window, Auburn visits Tennessee with Bob Wischusen, Louis Riddick and Stormy Buonantony calling the game.
Tennessee was pushed hard by Texas before falling short at Neyland Stadium, even after recovering an onside kick for a late surge. Auburn also won in Week 4, taking down Vanderbilt at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Iowa’s game with Ohio State carries even more weight after both teams delivered dramatic results last week. Hank Brown’s touchdown pass to Reece Vander Zee lifted Iowa past Michigan on the final play in Ann Arbor, and Jeremiah Smith powered Ohio State with four touchdowns in a blowout of Illinois. ESPN’s College GameDay will be there as well.
Florida and Missouri aren’t the only SEC teams with a ranked opponent on the road. Kentucky, now No. 24 in the AP Top 25, goes to South Carolina on SEC Network with Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb and Michella Chester on the call. Kentucky cruised past South Alabama during its non-conference break, while South Carolina is coming off a loss to Alabama for its second straight defeat to open SEC play.
Later Saturday, Washington and USC meet under the NBC lights with both teams looking to bounce back from Week 4 losses. USC stayed close with Oregon before the Ducks pulled away in Los Angeles, while Washington had trouble slowing down Drake Lindsey and Minnesota in Seattle.
FOX closes out the Week 5 slate late at night with Cincinnati at Arizona, where Jack Kizer and Mark Helfrich will be in the booth for the 11 p.m. ET kickoff. Arizona beat Washington State during its Week 4 non-conference break, and Cincinnati stayed unbeaten by beating Kansas State at home in conference play.
A few other Week 5 games also have their broadcast teams set: Michigan-Minnesota on FOX with Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft; Notre Dame-North Carolina on ESPN with Wes Durham, Dusty Dvoracek and Taylor McGregor; Navy-Air Force on CBS with Rich Waltz, Adam Breneman, Brian Kelly and Jordan Giorgio; Boston College-SMU on The CW with Thom Brennaman, Jason Cabinda and Wes Bryant; Maryland-Nebraska on FS1 with Dan Hellie and Robert Smith; BYU-TCU on ESPN with Tom Hart, Roddy Jones and Quint Kessenich; Texas Tech-Colorado on FOX with Noah Reed, Devin Gardner and Josh Sims; Indiana-Rutgers on BTN with Mark Followill, Rhett Lewis and Caroline Hendershot; and Baylor-Arizona State with Roy Philpott, Brock Osweiler and Sherree Burruss.
Week 5 brings the first games of October and a full slate of matchups as teams keep building their cases for the College Football Playoff.
In Other News...
Zoom Diallo Is Bringing A Mindset Kentucky Fans Will Love
Kentuckys offseason addition at point guard is already talking like someone who understands what Rupp Arena is supposed to feel like. Zoom Diallo came through the transfer portal with an eye toward more than just filling a roster spot, stressing the importance of homecourt advantage and the kind of crowd energy that can turn a normal night into something bigger. For a program that lives on atmosphere as much as talent, that is a pretty good place to start.
Diallo also brings a reputation that should resonate with Wildcats fans beyond the buzzwords. His former high school coach pointed to his winning mentality and competitiveness as defining traits, the sort of edge Kentucky hopes will show up when games tighten up and the arena starts to sway. The bigger question now is how quickly that mindset translates once the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Just Proved Something Big As Morgan Gaerte Wait Continues
Kentucky volleyball keeps finding ways to win even while waiting for one of its most important players to get healthy. The Wildcats are 10-2 on the season and just swept No. 7 Texas, a result that stood out even more because Morgan Gaerte was unavailable after getting hit in the eye in practice. Craig Skinner said Gaerte is being monitored and praised the group for handling the setback and still delivering one of its best results of the year.
For Kentucky, the bigger picture is just as encouraging as the immediate one. The Wildcats now move deeper into SEC play with Auburn and Florida coming up, and the ability to keep their level high while Gaerte is day-to-day gives this team a little more resilience than it might have shown a week ago. The question now is how long that edge can hold if they have to keep going without her. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Is Making A Serious Push For A Class-Changing Guard
Kentuckys pursuit of Reese Alston has taken on a more serious edge after the top 10 point guard wrapped up an official visit to Lexington, a sign that the Wildcats are firmly in the mix for one of the classs most coveted backcourt talents. Alstons summer play helped sharpen that attention, and the idea of him as a program-changing guard has made his recruitment one of the more closely watched in the country.
The list of contenders is still crowded, with Louisville drawing particular notice as the in-state battle starts to take shape around him. Kentucky has already done enough to stay relevant deep into the process, but the next steps in Alstons recruitment will say plenty about just how real the Wildcats push is as this race moves toward a decision. [Read more 🡒]