ESPN’s College Football Analysts Predict Conference & BCS Winners

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Our latest ESPN press release deals with college football and the network’s analysts discussing the winners for the BCS conferences as well as for the BCS itself. Take a look.

ESPN College Football Analysts Ruminate on Conference Winners, BCS Champion

In preparation for the 2010-11 college football season, ESPN’s College GameDay analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard discussed Heisman hopefuls, conference predictions, surprises and standouts during Saturday’s College GameDay Season Preview on ESPN.

Here, ESPN college football analysts Ed Cunningham, Bob Davie, Lou Holtz, Craig James and Jesse Palmer joined the GameDay crew in the discussion, with each analyst providing his prediction for winners in each of the six automatic qualifying  BCS conferences as well as the winner of the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game (Jan. 10 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN).

ESPN will kick off the 2010 college football season with 31 games in five days across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3.com, ESPN 3D and ESPN Radio beginning Thursday, Sept. 2, with six games, including Southern Miss at South Carolina on ESPN College Football Primetime at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. For complete details, see Monday’s news release.

And after the jump, we have what ESPN’s analysts are saying about the upcoming season.

ESPN Analyst	Winner	Comments
Kirk Herbstreit	UConn	I think that this football team obviously went through so much last year, won their last four games, I think really came together. Great nucleus of that team comes back this year.
Lee Corso	Pitt	They’ve got West Virginia at home, and Dion Lewis is the best player in the conference.
Desmond Howard	Pitt	I like returning (RBs) Dion Lewis and Jonathan Baldwin, fantastic offensive players; plus they’ve got only two tough road games, Utah and UConn.
Ed Cunningham	Pitt	This program is for real, this is the year it comes true.
Bob Davie	Pitt	Running game and improved defense.
Lou Holtz	Cincinnati	Talent on offense: Zach Collaros at QB, Pead at RB, Woods and Binns at WR. Can’t be any worse on defense than in ’09 and they won it anyway.
Craig James	Pitt	Wins and championships usually go to teams who can dominate in the running game. I expect another great year on the ground by Pitt.
Jesse Palmer	West Virginia	19 starters return to a team that finished 9-3 in 2009 regular season. Maybe the best defense at WVU since the 1988 team that played in national championship game.

ESPN Analyst	Winner	Comments
Kirk Herbstreit	Miami	(Over Boston College) I think the ‘Canes have been a very young team the last couple years, they group up this year, show some maturity, more consistency.
Lee Corso	Virginia Tech	They run the old-fashioned way: Run it, kick it, play defense.
Desmond Howard	Miami	I think they do have the talent to do it this year; the coordinators are in place finally for two years in a row.
Ed Cunningham	Florida State	The champion will have two or three in-conference losses and Florida State is good enough to only do that.
Bob Davie	Virginia Tech	Great balance and skill on offense. Always good on defense.
Lou Holtz	Florida State	(Over Georgia Tech) Christian Ponder will have a great year at QB. Five starters back on the offensive line, good receivers and defense can’t help but be better under Mark Stoops.
Craig James	Georgia Tech	Very balanced league, yet again I go with a team who I know will run the ball and control the clock.
Jesse Palmer	Virginia Tech	Improved passing QB Tyrod Taylor has his top six targets back, as well as one of the best RB tandems in the nation, Ryan Williams and Darren Evans.

ESPN Analyst	Winner	Comments
Kirk Herbstreit	Ohio State	(Over Boston College) Terrelle Pryor will use the Rose Bowl as kind of a balancing opportunity to get into 2010 and really showcase his talents. I think Jim Tressel will trust him more and really attack on the offensive side.
Lee Corso	Iowa	They’ve got Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State and Wisconsin all at home, and Ricky Stanzi has never lost a game that he started and finished.
Desmond Howard	Wisconsin	This is the year that they finally get over that hump; they have Ohio State at home, they’ve got to travel to play Iowa.
Ed Cunningham	Wisconsin	Call me after October 16 and make fun of this pick.
Bob Davie	Ohio State	Confidence again in winning big games after last year’s Rose Bowl.
Lou Holtz	Ohio State	They are a complete team. They can run and throw, good offense and good defense, plus an excellent QB in Terrelle Pryor.
Craig James	Ohio State	Loads of talent and an offensive line that I expect to make Terrelle Pryor and the rest of the offensive players look great. All great offenses have one thing in common: great offensive lines.
Jesse Palmer	Ohio State	Terrelle Pryor demonstrated his potential during last season’s Rose Bowl victory and he’s surrounded by gifted and experienced playmakers at the skill positions.

ESPN Analyst	Winner	Comments
Kirk Herbstreit	Stanford	Jim Harbaugh obviously built this program from the ground up. I think they’ll show that there’s more to this team than Toby Gerhart, and Andrew Luck could be the best player in the Pac-10.
Lee Corso	USC	Monte Kiffin’s defense and they’ve got Oregon and Cal at home.
Desmond Howard	Oregon	Nick Costas is not a great quarterback but he has great talent around him.
Ed Cunningham	USC	Don’t forget, Tennessee got better in the second half of last season.
Bob Davie	Oregon	Even without Masoli, they still have the best spread scheme in the conference.
Lou Holtz	USC	One of three teams with a proven QB, still the most talented team in the Pac-10. They will rally together because of the probation and people are writing them off.
Craig James	Oregon	I worked their spring game and I didn’t see one bit of distraction within the team from off-field stuff. The Ducks are focused and talented and have a very good coaching staff.
Jesse Palmer	Oregon	17 starters return to a team that must overcome the loss of QB Jeremiah Masoli, however they still have the talent to survive conference road tests at USC and Oregon St.

ESPN Analyst	Winner	Comments
Kirk Herbstreit	Florida	(Over Auburn) John Brantley is going to perform well, I think Jeff Demps is going to have a breakout year this year, put up some huge numbers. And the defense will have a chance to really rally around people questioning some of the youth and inexperience.
Lee Corso	Florida	They’ve got tremendous athletes on both sides of the ball, a favorable schedule — they could lose to Alabama at Alabama, and still win it in the SEC title game in Atlanta.
Desmond Howard	Alabama	But not against Florida. I have Alabama against Georgia in the SEC championship game.
Ed Cunningham	??	There are almost four teams that can compete with all too many unanswered questions.
Bob Davie	Alabama	Because of their ability to run the football and minimize mistakes.
Lou Holtz	Alabama	(Over S. Carolina) A winner at QB, two great RBs, Julio Jones at WR, good offensive line and SABAN will always have a great defense.
Craig James	Alabama	Anybody who picks another team to win the SEC is throwing mud against the wall trying to look good “if” their pick is right. No plausible reason to pick any other team in the SEC.
Jesse Palmer	Alabama	With nine starters back on offense, and the best 1-2 combination in the Bowl Subdivision at RB, Alabama continues its physical dominance on both sides of the ball in 2010.

ESPN Analyst	Winner	Comments
Kirk Herbstreit	Oklahoma	(Over Nebraska) Sense of urgency after an 8-5 year. Landry Jones, DeMarco Murray and Ryan Broyles, that trifecta will put up some huge numbers for the Sooners.
Lee Corso	Nebraska	They’ve got a kicker, Alex Henery, he does it all. I like him.
Desmond Howard	Nebraska	I like Bo Pelini’s group and I think they’re going to beat Oklahoma for the Big 12 championship.
Ed Cunningham	Texas	Nebraska just can’t win the conference in their last year, can they?
Bob Davie	Texas	They have the best defense in the league.
Lou Holtz	Nebraska	(Over Oklahoma) Zac Lee & Cody Green at QB, Roy Helu Jr. at RB, three starters on offensive line, but mostly because of Bo Pelini’s defense.
Craig James	Nebraska	This being their last season in the Big 12 and with a bulls-eye on their chest, Bo Pelini will have his team ready to take on the world. I’m expecting a much more opened-up offense to go along with another strong defense.
Jesse Palmer	Nebraska	Bo and brother Carl Pelini continue to mastermind dominant defense, while Nebraska is able to establish a more consistent and dependable running game in 2010.

ESPN Analyst	Winner	Comments
Kirk Herbstreit	Ohio State	(Over Oklahoma) I like Oklahoma coming out of the Big 12 but I think Jim Tressel will open up the playbook this year for Terrelle Pryor.
Lee Corso	Nebraska	Beating Florida, just like in 1995. Nebraska’s defense wins it.
Desmond Howard	Alabama	The trend right now is whoever wins the SEC championship game, they go to the BCS championship game, so I’ve got Alabama beating the team who I say will be there in 2010, Miami.
Ed Cunningham	Wisconsin	(Over TCU) TCU overtakes Boise State in the standings because of tougher in-conference play at the end of the season and Wisconsin’s schedule sets up pretty well.
Bob Davie	Alabama	Over Ohio State, Alabama is a back-to-back champ.
Lou Holtz	Ohio State	(Over Boise State) The Big 10 wins the championship. Boise State loses their first game. Ohio State is not the best team, Alabama is – but they lose to Florida in Tuscaloosa. With a target on your back, it’s hard not to get wounded when everyone is shooting at you.
Craig James	Alabama	(Over Ohio State) The balance of the Tide’s offense and their speed on defense will allow them to somewhat contain Pryor. There’s nothing like experience when it comes to playing BIG games, and the Tide has lots of experience to pull from.
Jesse Palmer	Alabama	(Over Ohio State) SEC wins fifth straight national championship behind physical running and aggressive defense.

That’s all for now.

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