Big TV plans for UM-Texas A&M. And the oddity about playoff coverage
ESPN executives like to offer a buffet of viewing options for big events, and they’re giving that royal treatment to Saturday’s UM-at-Texas A&M playoff game.
There will be eight ways to watch the noon game, ranging from the traditional to the sublime.
Examining your options:
▪ ABC: A traditional broadcast, with Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy on the call. ABC’s B team is every bit as good as, if not better than the A team (Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit.) They called several UM losses in past years, but they were in the booth for the Canes’ signature win against Notre Dame this year.
▪ ESPN: This will be a simulcast of ABC’s broadcast.
▪ ESPN2: “Field Pass with the Pat McAfee Show” — described by the network as an “entertaining, free-flowing” presentation of the game — holds some appeal to younger audiences. McAfee, the popular ESPN personality, will wander the sidelines of Kyle Field and chat it up with numerous celebrities and analysts, including former NFL players A.J. Hawk and Darius Butler.
▪ ESPNU: This will be the Skycast presentation of the game, offering views from above the field and behind the offense on most plays. Replays will be shown every time the main telecast shows a replay,
▪ ACC Network: Another Skycast presentation of the game, but this one with audio from WQAM UM radio announcers Joe Zagacki and Don Bailey Jr.
▪ SEC Network: Another Skycast presentation of the game, with audio from Texas A&M radio announcers Andrew Monaco and Dave Elmendorf.
▪ ESPN Deportes: A traditional video presentation of the game, with Eitán Benezra and Rigoberto Plascencia offering a Spanish-language call.
▪ Notable: Rece Davis, Desmond Howard and Joey Galloway will host the ABC/ESPN halftime show from College Station… ABC Miami (Channel 18 on most cable and satellite systems) will have an 11:30 a.m. pregame show with Josh Moser anchoring... WPLG 10 will have a one-hour preview show at 8 p.m. Friday, with Will Manso hosting...
Nick Saban’s assessment of the game, from the McAfee show: “I think two things are very interesting in this game, and it’s the style that both teams play on defense. Miami has got really talented front guys. I mean, they dominate the line of scrimmage, they rush four guys most of the time. These guys make a lot of negative plays by how aggressive and physical they are.
“I think Jason Taylor has done a fantastic job of coaching these guys up front. And then, you go on the A&M side of it. They’re not as big. They’re very athletic. They can run. And they rely on different kinds of pressures and slants to give you negative plays. And, if A&M can get you in third down, they are lethal, man.
“They’ve got a great third-down package where they create a lot of pressures, a lot of overload-type simulated pressures that give people problems. This is going to be the tale of how does this game go. If Miami can control the line of scrimmage, and eliminate the negative plays and stay out of third-down and long situations, I think they’ll have success against A&M.
“If, on the other hand, if A&M can’t block this front and they affect the quarterback, although I think Marcel Reed is an outstanding player? Not only do they have to affect him. They have to keep him from running, and this guy can throw it. They’ve got good skill guys.”
TNT’s games
If you’re a college football fan who lives outside of a Big 12 market, you might have gone the entire season without ever flipping to TNT to watch a game.
For three months, Turner’s college football programming has been limited to second-rate Big 12 games, with Fox and ESPN retaining rights to the conference’s most appealing matchups.
But TNT’s college football coverage demands attention this weekend and will, even more so, at this time next year.
As part of a sublicensing agreement with ESPN, TNT — for the second year in a row — will carry two CFP playoff games on Saturday — Tulane-Mississippi at 3:30 p.m. and James Madison-Oregon at 7:30 p.m.
But beginning next season through January 2029, TNT will get playoff games involving marquee teams, not merely games pitting a heavy underdog Group of 4 team against a Power 5 team.
As part of an expanded deal with ESPN, TNT next season will carry two of the national quarterfinal games and one of the national semifinals, in addition to their two first-round games.
While it might seem peculiar that ESPN would sell off such high-profile inventory, it makes sense financially for both parties.
ESPN pays $1.3 billion per year for the CFP playoffs. Warner Brothers Discovery then pays ESPN’s hundreds of millions (the exact figure hasn’t leaked) to carry some of those games exclusively on TNT, truTV and HBO Max.
Those games will increase the value of TNT to cable and satellite operators who might have given any thought to dropping the channel after TNT lost NBA rights.
If the current 12-team format is preserved, ESPN would carry six games beginning next season (including the championship) and TNT would carry five.
Turner is using ESPN’s on-site production teams and game announcers, including Joe Tessitore and Jesse Palmer on the Mississippi game and Bob Wischusen and Louis Riddick on the Oregon game.
TNT also will use ABC’s studio team (Kevin Neghandi and Booger McFarland) for both halftime shows.
But TNT will produce its own 60-minute postgame show originating from Eugene, Oregon, featuring its Big 12 studio team — Adam Lefkoe, Champ Bailey, Takeo Spikes and Victor Cruz.
ESPN kept the two most attractive games for itself this week: Alabama-Oklahoma and Miami-Texas A&M.
The NFL will oppose TNT’s college football games with an Eagles-Commanders game at 5 and a Bears-Packers game at 8:20 p.m., with both airing on Fox. None of the other CFP games will face NFL competition in the coming weeks.
This and that
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▪ Former CBS 4 sportscaster Trish Christakis has joined NBC 6 as a reporter and anchor, working mostly in news.
▪ The NFL’s Christmas schedule, which looked appealing before the season, is far less so now.
Netflix will have one game that probably won’t have any impact on the playoffs (Washington-Dallas at 1), followed by a game that might not have any impact (Detroit against Washington at 4:30 p.m.).
Amazon’s prime-time Christmas game — Denver vs. Kansas City — won’t have Patrick Mahomes, who’s out with a torn ACL. And the Chiefs were eliminated from playoff contention Sunday.
The more impactful standalone games next week are the two that were flexed into Dec. 27 slots — Houston vs. the Chargers at 4:30 p.m. on NFL Network and Baltimore-Green Bay at 8 p.m. on Peacock.
This story was originally published December 19, 2025 at 10:40 AM.
