Big Ten Title and College Football Playoff Spot on the Line Saturday in Prime Time on FOX
Two of the top teams in the country go head-to-head on Saturday, Dec. 5, as No. 4 Iowa meets No. 5 Michigan State in the Big Ten Football Championship Game live on the FOX broadcast network (7:00 PM ET). Not only is the conference title on the line as the Hawkeyes and Spartans clash on the gridiron, but with the two teams ranked Nos. 4 and 5 in the College Football Playoff poll, Saturday has all the makings of a play-in game for a spot in the sport’s championship bracket.
FOX and BTN have all the angles covered from before the opening kickoff until well after the final whistle blows with live programming from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Coverage begins Friday at 3:30 PM ET on BTN with live press conferences for Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio. Saturday’s pregame gets underway at 6:30 PM ET on BTN with lead studio host Dave Revsine and analysts Gerry DiNardo and Howard Griffith, who have followed both teams since spring camp, providing analysis. Coverage continues on FOX at 7:00 PM ET with FOX COLLEGE PREGAME. Host Rob Stone and analysts Matt Leinart and Dave Wannstedt are joined by special guest analyst, Penn State head coach James Franklin, who has the Nittany Lions bowl-eligible for the second time in his two-year tenure.
During a special one-hour edition of FOX COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREGAME, FOX Sports lead game analyst Joel Klatt comes down from his broadcast position in the press box to preview the game with Stone, Leinart, Wannstedt and Franklin, and sideline reporter Molly McGrath has 1-on-1 interviews with Ferentz and Dantonio. The show also examines the perceived lack of respect given to the Hawkeyes this season, despite an unblemished record, and looks at Spartan senior quarterback Connor Cook, who enters the game with a stellar 33-4 record as a starter. And finally, famous alumni from each school, comedian Tom Arnold from Iowa and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green from Michigan State, have some fun talking trash and supporting their teams.
When game coverage begins at 8:00 PM ET, FOX Sports lead college football play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson is joined by Klatt and McGrath to call the action as the Hawkeyes and Spartans play for the right to be called Big Ten Champions. Host Mike Hill, college football insider Bruce Feldman and analyst Petros Papadakis are in FOX Sports’ Los Angeles studio on Saturday, presenting game breaks and key highlights from around the country all day long. The group also checks in on the FOX NFL SUNDAY crew, live from Pearl Harbor in Hawaii where the show readies for a special two-hour NFL pregame show, part of “FOX Salutes the Military,” FOX Sports’ weekend-long tribute to the nation’s military and remembrance of the world-altering events that occurred at Pearl Harbor nearly 75 years ago on “a date which will live in infamy.”
Following the game, Klatt hands out the Amos Alonzo Stagg Championship and Grange-Griffin Most Valuable Player trophies before Stone, Leinart, Wannstedt and Franklin wrap up from the field. BTN’s postgame coverage with Revsine, DiNardo and Griffith live from inside Lucas Oil Stadium breaks down the game and includes interviews with the winning coach and key players as the Big Ten’s 2015 season comes to a close.
Also on Saturday, FS1 closes out its college football schedule this season with a Big 12 showdown between West Virginia and K-State at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium in Manhattan, Kan. Joe Davis, Brady Quinn and Kris Budden call the action once the game kicks off at 4:30 PM ET, and Hill, Feldman and Papadakis are in studio beginning at 4:00 PM ET to preview the action, plus live look-ins with the crew in Indianapolis.
Games on the FOX broadcast network and FS1 are also available via the FOX Sports GO app and online at FOXSportsGO.com.
This week’s full schedule of college football games on the FOX Sports family of networks, including broadcaster information, can be found below.
FOX SPORTS COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 14 SCHEDULE
· West Virginia at K-State
o Saturday, Dec. 5 (4:30 PM ET), FS1 & FOX Sports GO
o Announcers: Joe Davis, Brady Quinn and Kris Budden
· FOX COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREGAME
o Saturday, Dec. 5 (7:00 PM ET), FOX & FOX Sports GO
o Announcers: Rob Stone, Matt Leinart, Dave Wannstedt and James Franklin
· Big Ten Championship Game: No. 4 Iowa vs. No. 5 Michigan State
o Saturday, Dec. 5 (8:00 PM ET), FOX & FOX Sports GO
o Announcers: Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Molly McGrath
