NBC SPORTS KICKS OFF COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON ON AUG. 31 -- ANNOUNCE TEAMS NAMED

Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge, and Kathryn Tappen Return to Call Saturday Night Games, Beginning with Defending National Champion Michigan Hosting Fresno State on Aug. 31, on NBC and Peacock

Dan Hicks, Jason Garrett, and Zora Stephenson to Call Notre Dame Football, Which Opens Season Against Northern Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 7, at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock

Maria Taylor, Chris Simms, Joshua Perry, and Nicole Auerbach Lead College Countdown Pregame Show with Ahmed Fareed, Matt Cassel, and Michael Robinson at Saturday Night Game Site

Paul Burmeister, Colt McCoy, and Tappen to Call Colorado at Nebraska on Sept. 7 in Primetime on NBC and Peacock

STAMFORD, Conn. - Aug. 20, 2024 - NBC Sports, which will present more than 30 Big Ten and Notre Dame Football games this season across NBC and Peacock, including 10 Peacock exclusive games, named its 2024 college football announce teams today.

BIG TEN SATURDAY NIGHT

Noah Eagle (play-by-play), former Penn State quarterback Todd Blackledge (analyst), and Kathryn Tappen (sideline reporter) return to Big Ten Saturday Night and will call all primetime games other than Sept. 7. Eagle and Tappen return to the gridiron following roles on NBCUniversal's 2024 Paris Olympics coverage, while Blackledge begins his 31st season calling college football games. The trio will call defending national champion Michigan hosting Fresno State on NBC and Peacock on Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.

NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL

NBC Sports' unprecedented 34th season broadcasting Notre Dame Football will have veteran play-by-play voice Dan Hicks, analyst Jason Garrett, and reporter Zora Stephenson as the broadcast crew. Hicks returns to South Bend after calling Fighting Irish games from 2013-2016. Garrett, who is also an analyst on FNIA, had a 12-year career in the NFL as a quarterback and spent 16 years as an NFL coach, including nine as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Stephenson returns to the Notre Dame sidelines for the third consecutive season.

BIG TEN FOOTBALL

Longtime play-by-play voice Paul Burmeister will call Big Ten Football games throughout the season, including the much-anticipated Colorado-Nebraska primetime matchup on Saturday, Sept. 7, on NBC and Peacock. Burmeister will be joined on Colorado-Nebraska by analyst and former University of Texas All-American quarterback Colt McCoy, who played in the NFL for 14 seasons, and Tappen on the sidelines. Also calling Big Ten Football games this season will be FNIA co-host Jac Collinsworth and Paris Olympics Gold Zone co-host Andrew Siciliano. Additionally, veteran play-by-play voice Brendan Burke will call Rhode Island-Minnesota on Sept. 7 with former two-time Pro Bowl tight end Kyle Rudolph, who played 12 seasons in the NFL, including 10 with the Minnesota Vikings. Sideline reporter Caroline Pineda returns for her second season.

BIG TEN COLLEGE COUNTDOWN

Host Maria Taylor, analyst Joshua Perry, and reporter Nicole Auerbach return to NBC Sports' college football studio show, with Football Night in America's Chris Simms joining as an analyst.

Taylor is the host of Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports. Perry, a former Ohio State linebacker, helped the team win the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship in 2014 and spent two seasons in the NFL. Simms, an analyst for FNIA, played quarterback at the University of Texas (1999-2002) and had an eight-year NFL career after being selected in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft.

At the game site each Saturday will be host Ahmed Fareed alongside analysts Matt Cassel and Michael Robinson.

Cassel, a seventh-round pick out of USC in 2005, played quarterback in the NFL for 14 seasons, while Robinson, a 2006 fourth-round pick from Penn State, spent eight seasons in the NFL. Fareed currently serves as a host and reporter on a variety of events and properties across NBC Sports, including the Olympics, horse racing, and Premier League.

Big Ten College Countdown will lead into most Big Ten games on NBC/Peacock. In addition, College Countdown will lead into most Notre Dame Football games on NBC/Peacock.

NBC Sports College Football Podcasts:

B1G Talk with Todd and Noah, hosted by Todd Blackledge and Noah Eagle, sees the two personalities dive into the new-look Big Ten conference, covering the key storylines in college football across the largest conference in the nation as well as the matchups headlining Big Ten Saturday Night. They'll also analyze impact players and performances every Wednesday during the college football season. Click here to listen.

Rushing the Field, hosted by Nicole Auerbach and Joshua Perry, will launch Thursday, August 29 with new episodes every Thursday morning throughout the season. Auerbach and Perry will break down the biggest College Football stories, preview the upcoming weekend slate, analyze the college football playoff picture, and cultivate a home for college sports fans who want the latest news, smart takes, and laughs.

NBC Sports' 2024 Big Ten and Notre Dame Football games announced to date

--NBC SPORTS--