College Football Playoff Announcers and Referees for Semifinal Games

Kristen Wong | Jan 7, 2025

ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 07: TV Commentator Kirk Herbstreit before the SEC championship football game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Texas Longhorns on December 7, 2024 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. / Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The 2024 College Football Playoff continues this week with a pair of semifinal games slated for Thursday and Friday. 

No. 7 Notre Dame will play No. 6 Penn State on Thursday, Jan. 9 in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami while No. 8 Ohio State will play No. 5 Texas on Friday, Jan. 10 in the Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Along with the bowl organizers, College Football Playoff announcers and referees are expected to play a big part in helping to put forth two exciting semifinal games for college football fans before the championship. 

There’s already been some simmering controversy over officiating in recent games, as in the case of the targeting no-call in Texas’ 39-31 win over ASU in the Peach Bowl.

For a useful gameday reference, here are the announcers and referees for the CFP semifinal games.

Notre Dame vs. Penn State Announcers for College Football Playoff Semifinals

The Orange Bowl announcers are Sean McDonough (play-by-play) and Greg McElroy (analyst). The game will be broadcast on ESPN, and kickoff is set for Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Notre Dame vs. Penn State Referees for College Football Playoff Semifinals

The Orange Bowl will feature a Big 12 officiating crew led by referee Michael Vandervelde. 

Big 12 Officials	Previous Assignments
Michael Vandervelde	Conference Championship, Sugar Bowl
Sheldon Davis	Conference Championship, Sugar Bowl
John Braun	Conference Championship, Sugar Bowl
Keith Garmond	Conference Championship, Sugar Bowl
Joseph Martinez	Conference Championship, Sugar Bowl
JB Garza	Conference Championship, Sugar Bowl
Daniel Young	Conference Championship
Marvel July	Conference Championship, Sugar Bowl
Tutu Salaam (Alternate)	ReliaQuest Bowl
Brad Van Vark (Replay)	Conference Championship, Sugar Bowl
Jeff Yock (Communicator)	Conference Championship, Sugar Bowl

Ohio State vs. Texas Announcers for College Football Playoff Semifinals

The Cotton Bowl announcers are Chris Fowler (play-by-play) and Kirk Herbstreit (analyst). The game will be broadcast on ESPN, and kickoff is set for Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET. 

Ohio State vs. Texas Referees for College Football Playoff Semifinals

The Cotton Bowl will feature an ACC officiating crew led by referee Jerry Magallanes. 

ACC Officials	Previous Assignments
Jerry Magallanes	CFP First Round
Johnnie Forte	Conference Championship, Rose Bowl
Darryl Johnson	Conference Championship, CFP First Round
Alex Amaya	CFP First Round
Hugh Brown	Conference Championship, Rose Bowl
Brian McGready	CFP First Round
Frederick Dimpfel	Conference Championship, Rose Bowl
Anthony Calabrese	CFP First Round
Marcus Woods (Alternate)	CFP First Round
Bill Scott (Replay)	Rose Bowl
Frank Overcash (Communicator)	Rose Bowl

The expanded playoff format this year brought a new system of assigning officiating crews. The one requirement across all College Football Playoff matchups is that the officiating crew for any given game cannot be from the same conference as the participating schools.

Rather like the teams themselves, College Football Playoff officiating crews can advance to later rounds based on performance.

The officiating crew for the College Football Playoff championship has yet to be assigned.

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