CBS Sports announces broadcast teams for Akron vs. Ohio State, UCLA vs. Hawaii in Week 1
CBS Sports has announced their broadcast teams for a couple highly-anticipated clashes in Week 1, Akron at Ohio State and UCLA at Hawaii on Saturday, Aug. 31.
Check out the teams below, as CBS Sports is breaking out the big guns for Week 1, especially in Columbus, where the Buckeyes will begin their march towards the College Football Playoff, as they look for retribution in 2024.
CBS Sports broadcast teams for Week 1:
- College Football Today, 3:00 p.m. ET — Adam Zucker, Brian Jones, Rick Neuheisel, Aaron Taylor
- Akron at Ohio State, 3:30 p.m. ET — Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson, Jenny Dell
- UCLA at Hawaii, 7:30 p.m. ET — Rich Waltz, Ross Tucker, Tiffany Blackmon
All in all, it’ll be a joy to simply have football return on Aug. 31. In one of the more anticipated college seasons in recent memory, 2024 will be a rollercoaster, especially with the expanded Playoff.
Ohio State will be looking to avoid a historic upset, while UCLA will travel to take on a scrappy Hawaii team. CBS Sports is ready to carry all the action, and start 2024 off with a bang later this month.
Ryan Day on Ohio State’s 2024 expectations: ‘Every year there’s urgency’
Ahead of Week 1, Ryan Day isn’t giving this season special treatment. Earlier this month, the Ohio State head coach revealed how much pressure to succeed he feels ahead of the upcoming season.
“Every year, there’s urgency,” Day said. “You don’t think it’s important? Try losing a game at Ohio State. I say it all the time. So, it’s no different that way. But, certainly, there’s a lot of guys on the team that want to be able to finish the season with some hardware, and that matters.”
In Day’s first two years at the helm of Ohio State, he led the Buckeyes to back-to-back Big Ten titles. However, since then, Michigan has won three straight conference championships. With former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh heading to the NFL, the door is open for Day to reclaim the Big Ten throne.
Ohio State certainly has the talent to do so. During this offseason, Day added several standout transfers, headlined by former Alabama safety Caleb Downs, who was the SEC Freshman of the Year and the SEC Newcomer of the Year in 2023.
The standout safety also earned first-team All-SEC honors. He became the first Alabama freshman to lead the team in tackles in program history with 107. Nonetheless, Downs is far from the only exceptional talent Ohio State added during the offseason.
Ohio State is also expected to start transfer quarterback Will Howard in the 2024 campaign. In 25 career starts at Kansas State, Howard tallied a 14-11 record. His best season came this past fall, throwing for 2,643 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing a career-high 61.3% of his passes.
On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this article.