Who’s Announcing the Alabama-Clemson National Championship Game?

Kirk Herbstreit

Kirk Herbstreit will be one of the announcers on the main broadcast (Getty)

Monday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, ESPN will be broadcasting the College Football Playoff Championship Game between No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Clemson. The main broadcast on ESPN will be a traditional affair, with Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit working in the booth and Samantha Ponder and Tom Rinaldi serving as the sideline reporters.

But as has been the case in each of the first two years of the College Football Playoff, ESPN will offer up a variety of ways in which to watch the game. Below are the different channels that viewers can watch the game on, with explanations of how they will all work.

To access any of these channels online, please follow these directions.


Homers Broadcast on ESPN2

While there are some similarities between this channel and the homer channels that CBS/Turner Sports uses for its coverage of the Final Four, a major difference here is that the analysts will be in the same booth. Former Alabama center Barret Jones and former Clemson quarterback Tahj Boyd will fill those roles, with ESPN announced Joe Tessitore handling the play-by-play.

Coaches Filmroom on ESPNEWS

ESPN will also have the coaches filmroom broadcast, with six coaches in the room along with ESPN analyst and former Michigan and NFL quarterback Brian Griese giving their thoughts on the action. There will be six current FBS head coaches in the room: Steve Addazio (Boston College), Dino Babers (Syracuse), Dave Doeren (NC State), Mike MacIntyre (Colorado), Matt Rhule (Baylor) and Kalani Sitake (BYU). Interestingly, while three of the coaches have faced Clemson this season (Addazio, Babers and Doeren) none have faced Alabama.

ESPN Voices on ESPNU

Multiple ESPN personalities will chime in with their thoughts on the game, and there are bound to be some interesting moments as a result. Among those who will be on this channel are Michelle Beadle, Jay Bilas, Keyshawn Johnson, Rachel Nichols, Bill Walton and Marcellus Wiley.

Finebaum Film Room on SEC Network

Paul Finebaum will once again have a show during the title game, with SEC Network analysts Greg McElroy (former Alabama/MFL quarterback) and Booger McFarland (former LSU/NFL defensive lineman) joining him. Also in attendance will be Florida head coach Jim McElwain, whose Gators lost to Alabama in last month’s SEC Championship Game.

There are many other ways in which to watch the game as well. Goal line and sky cam angles will be available on different ESPN3 channels, and on ESPN Classic a “Sounds of the Game” broadcast will focus on the audio aspect of the game with both schools’ marching band performances at halftime being featured. You can read more about the many different ways in which to watch the championship game at this link.