College Football National Championship Game Announcers and Referees

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College Football National Championship Game Announcers and Referees

Karl Rasmussen | 9 Hours Ago

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit.

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Ohio State Buckeyes

The 2024-25 college football season is approaching its curtain call, with the College Football Playoff national championship game set to be played Monday night. No. 8 Ohio State and No. 7 Notre Dame will square off to determine this year's champion.

Ohio State was the first-ever winner of the CFP, having defeated Oregon in the championship at AT&T Stadium in the 2014 season. Notre Dame, on the other hand, has never won a championship in the CFP era, let alone been featured in one. The Buckeyes enter play as favorites over the Fighting Irish.

We're going to take a look at who will be in the broadcast booth for the game, detailing the announcers for Monday's CFP Final, as well as the full officiating crew for the showdown.

Announcers for Ohio State vs. Notre Dame

Lead Play-by-Play Announcer: Chris Fowler

Color Analyst: Kirk Herbstreit

Sideline Reports: Holly Rowe, Molly McGrath

Fowler and Herbstreit have been on the call for every national championship game in the College Football Playoff era. Monday night's game will be their 11th consecutive time calling the title game together. It's the fourth straight year that Rowe and McGrath will handle sideline reporting duties for the big game, too. Additionally, ESPN rules analyst Bill Lemonnier will also be involved in Monday's broadcast.

Broadcast Network and Production Team

As has been the case for the last 11 seasons, the College Football Playoff national championship game will be broadcast on ESPN. The network will have a wide array of different casts to choose from, including the main telecast, the Field Pass with the Pat McAfee Show, the Command Center, the SkyCast, and a Spanish language broadcast.

This year's national championship game will be available to watch in 4k in its entirety for the first time. There will be 100 cameras and 100 microphones in order to provide fans with all of the most important angles of the game.

Referees for Ohio State vs. Notre Dame

Head Referee (Crew Chief)

It will be an SEC officiating crew refereeing Monday night's game. The head referee is Steve Marlowe, who was in the same role during this year's SEC championship and the CFP quarterfinal clash between Penn State and Boise State. This will be his first time as head referee for the national championship during the CFP era (since the 2014 season).