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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