abstract
| - Since debuting in 1984, it has broadcast games from numerous conferences including the SEC, ACC, Big Ten and the Big East. In recent years, it has primarily featured the SEC as the second-choice game to CBS' national coverage earlier in the day. Games from the other conferences typically could air either on ESPN/ESPN2 or ABC, but the SEC does not offer such flexibility. This game is often seen as the ESPN Game of the Week along with the Thursday night telecast. Some notable voices of ESPN College Football Primetime over the years have been Ron Franklin, Mike Gottfried and Adrian Karsten, but all have gone on to different assignments, except for Karsten, who died in 2005. Currently, the primary commentators for the ESPN version are Brad Nessler on play-by-play, Todd Blackledge as analyst and Holly Rowe as field reporter. The secondary commentators are Chris Fowler on play-by-play, Kirk Herbstreit as analyst and Heather Cox as field reporter, all of whom also serve as the primary commentating team for ABC's Saturday Night Football. On October 14, 2006, ESPN College Football Primetime aired on five different networks as part of ESPN Full Circle. The networks included ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360 and Mobile ESPN. On August 30, 2008, the ESPN2 team of Mark Jones and Bob Davie commentated the Illinois-Missouri game. A week later (September 6, 2008), the ABC team of Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit commentated the Miami–Florida game. Ron Franklin worked the November 22, 2008 game with Ed Cunningham as they commentated the Florida State–Maryland game. This marked the first time since 2005 that Franklin called an ESPN College Football Saturday Primetime game.
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