USC Head Coach Pete Carroll to Provide Analysis for SportsCenter & College GameDay 

ESPN’s college football bowl schedule — featuring 30 games across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Radio and ESPN360.com — will be highlighted by coverage of all five BCS Bowl games, including the Citi BCS National Championship Game (No. 2 Texas vs. No. 1 Alabama) from the Rose Bowl on Thursday, Jan. 7, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN Radio. In addition to game broadcasts, coverage will include extensive on-site studio reports and analysis for multiple shows and platforms, dedicated Web pages for each bowl, re-airs of classic BCS games, international telecasts of all five games, encore presentations of the National Championship and more. 

It will mark the first time ESPN on ABC has produced the BCS National Championship since the 2006 game featuring Texas defeating USC 41-38 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The telecast holds the record for the highest-rated and most-viewed BCS National Championship telecast ever with a 21.7 rating, 23,925,000 households and 35,627,000 total viewers. 

USC head coach Pete Carroll, who led the Trojans to seven consecutive Pac-10 titles and two National Championships, will join ESPN for analysis on SportsCenter and College GameDay Built by The Home Depot Jan. 6-7. Carroll will offer insight on the pressure of playing in a National Championship game and at the Rose Bowl, as well as coaching against Texas coach Mack Brown. Carroll joined USC in 2001 and holds a 97-19 record (83.6%), second highest among active coaches with more than five years at the position. 

ESPN on ABC Saturday Night Football Presented by Southwest Airlines commentators Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Lisa Salters will work the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi on Jan. 1 and the National Championship on Jan. 7 on ABC. Reporter Tom Rinaldi will join them for the National Championship. ESPN Monday Night Football announcer Mike Tirico and analyst Jon Gruden will call ESPN Radio’s broadcast of both, with analyst Todd Blackledge and reporter Wendi Nix joining them for the Championship game. Shelley Smith will report for ESPN Radio’s coverage of the Rose Bowl Game. 

Overall, ABC and ESPN Radio will combine to provide television and radio broadcasts of all five BCS Bowl games: 

 Studio Coverage

ESPN will provide extensive news updates, analysis, features and highlights of the five BCS games across multiple platforms, highlighted by on-site shows and reports from the Rose Bowl Game and National Championship. 

• Coming off its most-viewed season ever, ESPN will televise two special editions of the popular Saturday morning College GameDay Built by The Home Depot leading up to the Rose Bowl Game and National Championship game: Friday, Jan. 1, at 9 a.m. and Thursday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. College GameDay is hosted by Chris Fowler with analysts Lee Corso, Herbstreit and Desmond Howard. Carroll will provide analysis on the Jan. 7 show. 
• SportsCenter and ESPNEWS: ESPN and ESPNEWS will provide daily coverage Dec. 30 to Jan. 8 from Pasadena. On-site commentators include hosts Fowler, Rece Davis, John Saunders and Tirico, with analysis from Carroll (Jan. 6-7), Corso, Herbstreit, Jesse Palmer, Howard, Lou Holtz, Mark May, Todd McShay, Gruden and Blackledge, and reports from Rinaldi, Nix and Smith. 
• College Football Live: ESPN’s weekday college football studio show will originate Jan. 4-7 at 3 p.m. each day from Pasadena. Davis will host with analysis from Holtz, May, Palmer (Jan. 4-5) and Blackledge (Jan. 6-7). 
• Outside the Lines & PTI: ESPN’s two weekday afternoon shows will include BCS discussions, analysis and reports Jan. 4-8 and include appearances from ESPN commentators in Pasadena. 
• Pregame, halftime and postgame on ABC: ABC will broadcast a 30-minute show leading up to the National Championship game Thursday, Jan. 7, at 8 p.m. Fowler will host with analysis from Corso, Howard and Carroll. Holtz and May will join Davis on a second set for additional content.  

 ESPNU to Offer Three-Hour BCS Preview Show & Encore Presentations of Rose Bowl Game

ESPNU’s coverage of the National Championship will be highlighted by BCS Countdown, a three-hour pregame studio show Thursday, Jan. 7 at 4 p.m. from Pasadena. Saunders will host the program, with analysts Andre Ware, David Pollack and Tom Luginbill and reports from Lowell Galindo. Jenn Brown and Jonathan Drubner will report on the atmosphere around the game from various tailgates outside the stadium. 

ESPNU will also showcase Alabama and Texas on Jan. 7 in a re-air of a memorable game from the 2009 season involving each team, respectively: then-No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 7 Virginia Tech from Atlanta at midnight, followed by then-No. 3 Texas vs. No. 22 Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship from Dallas at 3 a.m. ESPNU will also offer three encore presentations of the Rose Bowl Game: Saturday, Jan. 2, at 3 a.m. and Saturday, Jan. 9, at 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.

 ESPN.com

ESPN.com will provide in-depth coverage with an individual page for all five BCS games as well as a home page for every bowl game. Content will include an analysis of the matchups; college football-related video; keys to who, why and what to watch; and season stats, rosters and team histories. ESPN.com will also have daily features and news stories about each game, results, key players, programs and personalities; SportsNation polls; live chats; commentary and humor from ESPN.com’s Page 2 section and more. On-site reporters for each game include: 

Citi BCS National Championship: Ivan Maisel, Pat Forde, Mark Schlabach, Tim Griffin and Chris Low

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi: Ivan Maisel, Ted Miller and Adam Rittenberg

Allstate Sugar Bowl: Pat Forde and Brian Bennett

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Gene Wojciechowski and Graham Watson

FedEx Orange Bowl: Heather Dinich

 ESPN International

The Rose Bowl Game and National Championship will be available live in 163 countries and 70 million households throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Middle East, Pacific Rim, Japan, Canada and Southeast Asia. The Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl will be available in approximately 42 countries. 

 ESPN360.com

The National Championship and Rose Bowl Game will be available on ESPN360.com beginning at 2:30 a.m. on the morning after the games.

 ESPN Classic

ESPN Classic will present 10 classic BCS Bowl games beginning with four telecasts Sunday, Jan. 3 and concluding with the thrilling 41-38 Texas victory over USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl Game Thursday, Jan. 7, at 4 p.m.

Beginning next season, ESPN will televise all five BCS games – including the National Championship game – as the result of an agreement with the BCS. It will include the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls each season and the BCS National Championship game in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Through a separate agreement, ESPN will also televise the Rose Bowl Game beginning in 2011. 

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