College Football Kickoff 2025: The CW Heads Into ACC, Pac-12 Schedule With New Pregame CW Football Saturday Countdown'

College Football Kickoff 2025: The CW Heads Into ACC, Pac-12 Schedule With New Pregame CW Football Saturday Countdown' The studio show will broadcast live from Goal Line Studios in Pleasanton, CA By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor

Thursday, August 28, 2025 - 10:09 am

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College football over the air is back with another season of ACC and Pac-12 action on CW Football Saturday. As Raycom Sports and Pac-12 Enterprises return to handle live game production, The CW is fortifying its broadcast and studio personalities and improving its live studio content with a new pregame show, CW Football Saturday Countdown.

CW Football Saturday Countdown was an idea that came about in our first year [in 2023], says Jason Wormser, SVP, sports, The CW. This studio show will help us out for many reasons.

New Start to Saturdays: Pregame Show Joins Studio Programming Lineup Fans who tune into the network will experience a proper studio show before kickoff, but the effort will also support live game production in a major way. Located at Goal Line Studios in Pleasanton, CA, the space will serve as de facto home for seven of the broadcaster's 13 college football games.

Thom Brennaman will serve as primary play-by-play announcer for ACC college football games on The CW. (Photo: Jay Simon/CW)

During our first year, says Wormser, we were receiving halftime highlights through content-sharing platforms in our truck, which was very challenging for our onsite team. Between multiple events on NASCAR and college football, it also helps during times of inclement weather and having a place to throw to during weather-related delays.

The show's new home in Northern California is a departure from last season. Last year, The CW worked from Pac-12 Enterprises' facility in San Ramon, CA, 11 miles north of the new space. Also housing studio shows for the WNBA's newest franchise, the Golden State Valkyries, and other production entities in the Bay Area, Goal Line Studios is providing a portion of the 56-ft.-wide by 25-ft.-high production space to Wormser and the crew.

[Goal Line Studios Executive Producer Joe Madden] has been a great host, adds Wormser. We've prepared the space for the seven weeks that we'll be there.

Strong Cast of Talent: Studio, Broadcast Teams Add New Voices Accentuating the new show and its new home will be an impressive studio crew. Debuting on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 4:00-4:30 p.m. ET ahead of the ACC contest between the University of South Florida and the University of Miami, CW Football Saturday Countdown will be headlined by host Mike Yam and analysts Michael Bumpus and George Wrighster. After a year of rotating a handful of personalities to find the right fit, Wormser and his team of The CW SVP Mike Perman, President Brad Schwartz, and Executive Director Jonathan Biles are confident in this current iteration of the studio team.

Play-by-play announcer Ted Robinson and analyst Ryan Leaf will be in the booth for all Pac-12 games.

We noticed a good connection between Yam and Bump since they've worked together in the past at Pac-12 Networks, Wormser explains. Bump went to Washington State and does a lot of work in Seattle, so there's a connection between him and the Pac-12 Conference as well. As for adding George, he has done a lot of interviews with top college football coaches around the country, and he brings a unique energy that people really like. Ultimately, we want different voices and different perspectives.

For live game commentary, the broadcaster will deploy two separate teams: play-by-play announcer Thom Brennaman, booth analyst Will Blackmon, and sideline analyst Wes Bryant for ACC games and play-by-play announcer Ted Robinson, booth analyst Ryan Leaf, and sideline analyst Nigel Burton for Pac-12. To bring all available voices to the table, Bryant's and Burton's mics will be left open to hear their thoughts on plays from the sideline along with their reporting duties.

This gives us a great opportunity to bring young and interesting guys like Will and Wes to our fanbase, says Wormser.

Long Relationship: Raycom Sports, Pac-12 Enterprises Return for Game Production Raycom Sports and Pac-12 Enterprises will handle live game production for ACC and Pac-12 games, respectively. Pac-12 Enterprises will also produce CW Football Saturday Countdown. For the studio show and all games, The CW aims to give each entity the necessary leeway to produce a compelling broadcast and relies on the experience of Raycom Sports SVP/Executive Producer Rob Reichley, producer Scott Snyder, and director Lonnie Dale for ACC games and Pac-12 Enterprises Executive Producer Mike Molinari for Pac-12 games.

We give them a lot of space to do their thing since they've been doing this for a long time and know the league very well, says Wormser. These guys are the ones that make it happen.

Newcomer Wes Bryant will patrol the sidelines at ACC games as a sideline analyst.

On the tech side, ACC games will be enhanced with the return of UmpCam. A wearable device on the lead official's hat, this piece of equipment offers a POV perspective from field level in the heart of the action. It has become one of our signature broadcast elements, adds Wormser. It brings our fans a lot closer to the game.

Heavy Day of Sports: Sept. 6 Symbolizes The CW's Continuing Growth in Sports Over the past three years, The CW has grown its sports division. With major deals for NASCAR, college football, and college basketball, the fall months will certainly be busy.

Another newcomer, Will Blackmon, will be alongside Brennaman in the booth for ACC games.

The Sept. 6 schedule, for example, illustrates how far the over-the-air broadcaster has come. The CW will host a quadruple header of Baylor vs. No. 16 SMU at Gerald J

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/08/28/college-football-kickoff-2025-t...
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