ESPN College Football Analysts Predict Conference Winners, BCS Championship Contenders

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ESPN College Football Analysts Predict Conference Winners, BCS Championship Contenders

Photo of Rachel Margolis Siegal Rachel Margolis Siegal Follow on Twitter August 31, 2011

In anticipation of the 2011 college football season, ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard challenged one another during Saturday’s College GameDay Season Preview on ESPN to predict the winners of the six automatic qualifying BCS conferences and the teams that will contend in the All-State BCS National Championship Game (Jan. 9, at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN). An additional 15 ESPN college football analysts also weighed in with their conference predictions as well as the teams competing for the national title.

No. 6 Florida State was the overwhelming pick out of the ACC as well as No. 1 Oklahoma of the Big 12. Also proving to have a big gap – 14 of the 18 analysts selected No. 24 West Virginia of the BIG EAST, No. 3 Oregon of the Pac-12 and No. 2 Alabama of the SEC. The Big 10 was the most varied with No. 11 Wisconsin grabbing nine first-place selections.

ESPN’s 2011 college football schedule will include more than 400 regular and postseason games across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3.com, ESPN 3D, ESPN Regional Television (ERT), ESPN Radio, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN GamePlan, in addition to ESPN Goal Line network and WatchESPN app.

The season will begin with the fourth annual DICK’s Sporting Goods Kickoff Week Sept. 1-5, featuring extensive studio programming and 44 games in five days, concluding with Miami at Maryland in a Labor Day telecast Monday, Sept. 5, at 8 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN3.com. First Week Schedule

2011 ESPN Analysts College Football Preseason Picks

Analyst ACC BIG EAST Big Ten Big 12 Pac-12 SEC National Title Game
Mike Bellotti Florida St. West Virginia Ohio St. Oklahoma Oregon Alabama Alabama/Oklahoma
Todd Blackledge Florida St. West Virginia Ohio St. Oklahoma Oregon South Carolina Oklahoma/Oregon
Lee Corso Florida St. West Virginia Nebraska Oklahoma Stanford LSU LSU/Oklahoma
Ed Cunningham Florida St. West Virginia Wisconsin Texas A&M USC* LSU LSU/Wisconsin
Bob Davie Florida St. West Virginia Ohio St. Texas A&M Oregon Alabama Alabama/Oregon
Rod Gilmore Florida St. West Virginia Wisconsin Oklahoma Stanford Alabama Alabama/Florida St.
Brian Griese Florida St. West Virginia Wisconsin Oklahoma Oregon Alabama Alabama/Florida St.
Dan Hawkins Florida St. West Virginia Nebraska Oklahoma Oregon Alabama Oklahoma/Oregon
Kirk Herbstreit Florida St. USF Ohio St. Oklahoma Oregon Alabama Alabama/Oregon
Desmond Howard Florida St. USF Wisconsin Oklahoma Oregon Alabama Alabama/Florida St.
Brock Huard Florida St. West Virginia Wisconsin Oklahoma St. Stanford Alabama Alabama/Florida St.
Craig James Florida St. West Virginia Nebraska Oklahoma Oregon Alabama Alabama/Oklahoma
Danny Kanell Florida St. West Virginia Wisconsin Oklahoma Oregon Alabama Oklahoma/Oregon
Urban Meyer Florida St. USF Ohio St. Oklahoma Oregon Alabama Alabama/Oklahoma
Matt Millen Virginia Tech West Virginia Wisconsin Oklahoma Oregon Alabama Alabama/Oklahoma
Jesse Palmer Florida St. West Virginia Nebraska Oklahoma Oregon LSU LSU/Oklahoma
David Pollack Florida St. West Virginia Wisconsin Oklahoma Oregon Alabama Alabama/Oklahoma
Chris Spielman Virginia Tech USF Wisconsin Oklahoma Oregon Alabama Oklahoma/Wisconsin

* – picked USC to have best conference-best record

Percentage Breakdown of Analyst Preseason Picks

Conferences
ACC (16-2) 88.9% – Florida St. 11.1% – Virginia Tech
BIG EAST (14-4) 77.8% – West Virginia 22.2% – USF
Big 10 (9-5-4) 50.0% – Wisconsin 27.8% – Ohio St. 22.2% – Nebraska
Big 12 (15-2-1) 83.3% – Oklahoma 11.1% – Texas A&M 5.5% – Oklahoma St.
Pac-12 (14-3-1) 77.8% – Oregon 16.7% – Stanford 5.5% – USC
SEC (14-3-1) 77.8% – Alabama 16.7% – LSU 5.5% – South Carolina
BCS National Title Game (5-4-3)^ 27.8% – Alabama/Oklahoma 22.2% – Alabama/Florida St. 16.7% – Oklahoma/Oregon

^ – Analysts had four additional picks for possible matchups (Alabama/Oregon; LSU/Oklahoma; LSU/Wisconsin; Oklahoma/Wisconsin)

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Media Contacts: Rachel Margolis at 860-766-2798 or [email protected]; Mike Humes at 860-766-2233 or [email protected]

Photo of Rachel Margolis Siegal Rachel Margolis Siegal Follow on Twitter August 31, 2011
Photo of Rachel Margolis Siegal

Rachel Margolis Siegal

A part of the Internal Communications team at ESPN, I began with the network in 2010 as part of the College Sports PR team. Always an avid sports fan and not an athlete – I grew up a huge fan of the Hartford Whalers, while also watching my brother compete at different levels. I became the manager of several high school sports teams and continued that hobby into college. While at Quinnipiac, I worked in the Sports Information Department, which led me to a summer internship at the New Haven Ravens, a AA baseball team, and an eventual job with the Athletic Communications Department at the University of Connecticut. After my five-year stint at Connecticut, I spent six years as Director of Communications at the BIG EAST Conference in Providence, R.I. before joining ESPN.
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