ESPN College Football ESPN College Football is the branding used for broadcasts of NCAA Division I FBS college football across ESPN properties , including ESPN , ESPN2 , ABC , ESPN Classic , ESPNU , and ESPN Radio . " ESPN College Football " debuted in 1982 . Coverage overview . " ESPN College Football " consists of four to five games a week , with " ESPN College Football Primetime " , which airs at 7 : 30 on Thursdays . Saturday includes " ESPN College Football Noon " at 12 : 00 Saturday , a 3 : 30 or 4 : 30 game that isn ' t shown on a weekly basis , and " ESPN College Football Primetime " on Saturday . A Sunday game , " Sunday Showdown " , was added for the first half of 2006 to make up for the loss of " Sunday Night Football " to NBC . ESPN also produces " ESPN College Football on ABC " and " ESPN Saturday Night Football on ABC " in separate broadcast packages . Major conference rights . ACC , Big Ten , Big East , MAC , Pac - 12 , SEC , Sun Belt , and WAC . ESPN began televising games for the independent Brigham Young University in 2011 . History . ESPN began airing taped college football games during the 1979 regular season , starting with a game between Colorado and Oregon . The network was limited to airing tape - delayed games because the NCAA controlled television rights through exclusive contracts . However , because bowl games operate outside the control of the NCAA , ESPN was able to air the 1982 Independence Bowl between Kansas State and Wisconsin live ( through a simulcast with the Mizlou Television Network ) – the first live football game televised on ESPN . After the 1984 Supreme Court decision in " NCAA v . Board of Regents of Univ . of Oklahoma " allowed individual schools to negotiate television rights , ESPN began broadcasting live regular season games during the 1984 season , beginning with a game between BYU and Pittsburgh . In recent years , ESPN and ESPN2 air games at noon , which usually includes a Big Ten game . Both networks also air primetime games , typically featuring teams from the ACC and / or SEC . With the expansion of ESPN , including multiple networks and outlets , their coverage has likewise increased . In 2005 , with the creation of ESPNU , over 300 games were aired on its networks . In 2007 , the ESPN family of networks aired over 450 games . Also , they aired a weekly game on ESPN Radio for the first time ever . ESPN started that season with 25 hours of college football programming . Also , ESPNU has rapidly increased the coverage of spring intermural team scrimmages with entire programs dedicated to this phenomenon . In 2008 , ESPN aired " College GameDay " from Florida Field prior to their spring scrimmage game . Starting with the 2007 season , ESPN began sublicensing games from Fox Sports Net , with the Big 12 Conference ( later extended until 2009 ) and with the Pacific - 10 Conference . However , the games cannot air during the “ reverse mirror ” slot . During the 2008 season , ESPN aired over 400 games . Beginning in the 2010 season , ESPN acquired exclusive broadcast rights to the Bowl Championship Series in a four year contract , where all games in the BCS would be aired on ESPN . Starting with the 2011 season , all college football games aired on ESPN , ESPN2 and ESPNU are broadcast in HD , with a 16 : 9 letterbox presentation used for all games , including the said networks ' standard - definition feeds , which all games are now letterboxed . Coverage . ESPN airs " Spring Football " games and coverage . Coverage includes " College Football Final " which wraps the annual Spring Games . During the regular season , ESPN airs pre - selected Thursday night marquee matchups . ESPN2 airs pre - selected Friday night contests from lesser known Division I schools . The weekend games with the exception of the regular season are typically selected a week or two weeks out . ABC gets the first pick of games for all the major conferences , with the exception of the SEC , in which case CBS get their first selection . ESPN / ESPN2 airs coverage of ABC games in a " reverse mirror " format . Both networks will also air other selected midweek games and Sunday games , typically teams from more “ minor ” conferences . ESPN Radio airs a weekly game as well as selected BCS games including all BCS games . ESPNU usually airs 5 games per week . ESPN Classic airs selected games throughout the year . Typical games . " Kickoff Week " is the first weekend of the college football weekend . Games include the Chick - fil - A College Kickoff and other non - conference action . " Championship Weekend " always features the MAC Championship Game and will feature the Pac - 12 Championship game every other year beginning in 2013 . Previously it has featured the WAC Championship Game , the C - USA Championship Game , and the Big 12 Championship game before they changed affiliates or dropped below the minimum 12 teams required for a football championship . The ESPN family of networks air the Division I FCS conference playoffs as well as other lower NCAA division championships . ESPN and ESPN2 air the bulk of the games during ‘ ‘ Bowl Week ’ ’ . ESPN Radio also owns the rights for many games including BCS matchups . Non - game action . " College GameDay " . ESPN airs the nationally renowned " College GameDay " . Since 1993 and almost exclusively in recent years , it has aired from the top game of the week or one of significance . For the 2010 season , the show was expanded to three hours , with the first hour airing on ESPNU . Home Depot College Football Awards . Since 1990 , ESPN has aired the show live from the Boardwalk in Orlando , Florida . The show airs several awards . Heisman Trophy Presentation . Since 1993 , ESPN has aired the Heisman Trophy from New York City . It is typically an hour long program featuring interviews with past winners and nominees ( with their families and / or coaches ) .