ESPN College Football Analysts Predict Winners of Five BCS Games

Rachel Margolis Siegal

December 30, 2011

Alabama Favored to Win Allstate BCS National Championship

ESPN and its platforms will have full coverage of all five of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) matchups for the second straight year, and in anticipation of the upcoming games ESPN analysts took a crack at predicting the winners.

ESPN analysts’ selections are as followed:

No. 5 Oregon was the favorite as the winner of the Rose Bowl Game Presented by VIZIO – netting 80 percent of the votes, while 20 percent selected No. 10 Wisconsin
No. 15 Clemson also earned 80 percent of the selections to be victorious over No. 23 West Virginia (20 percent) in the Discover Orange Bowl
No. 13 Michigan claimed 78.6 percent of the analysts picks over No. 11 Virginia Tech (21.4 percent) for the Allstate Sugar Bowl
No. 3 Oklahoma State was chosen as the winner of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl – grabbing 66.7 percent of the votes, while 33.3 percent picked No. 4 Stanford
The Allstate BCS National Championship featuring an anticipated rematch of No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama saw 66.7 percent of the analysts selecting Alabama, while 33.3 chose LSU

All five BCS games can been found on ESPN, ESPN3 and ESPN Radio, while the Allstate National Championship will also air on ESPN 3D and ESPN Deportes.

2011 ESPN Analysts College Football BCS Picks

Analyst	Rose Bowl	Fiesta Bowl	Sugar Bowl	Orange Bowl	National Championship
Mike Bellotti	Oregon	Oklahoma St.	Michigan	Clemson	LSU
Todd Blackledge	Oregon	Stanford	—	West Virginia	—
Jenn Brown	Wisconsin	Oklahoma St.	Virginia Tech	West Virginia	LSU
Ed Cunningham	Oregon	Oklahoma St.	Virginia Tech	Clemson	Alabama
Rod Gilmore	Wisconsin	Stanford	Michigan	—	LSU
Brian Griese	Oregon	Stanford	Michigan	Clemson	Alabama
Dan Hawkins	Oregon	Oklahoma St.	Virginia Tech	Clemson	Alabama
Lou Holtz	Oregon	Oklahoma St.	Michigan	West Virginia	Alabama
Brock Huard	Oregon	Oklahoma St.	Michigan	Clemson	LSU
Danny Kanell	Wisconsin	Oklahoma St.	Michigan	Clemson	Alabama
Mark May	Oregon	Oklahoma St.	Michigan	Clemson	Alabama
Todd McShay	Oregon	Oklahoma St.	Michigan	Clemson	LSU
Matt Millen	Oregon	—	—	Clemson	Alabama
Jesse Palmer	Oregon	Stanford	Michigan	Clemson	Alabama
Chris Spielman	—	Stanford	Michigan	Clemson	Alabama
Robert Smith	Oregon	Oklahoma St.	Michigan	Clemson	Alabama

ESPN analysts did not pick games they are calling

BCS Games
Rose Bowl	80% – Oregon	20% – Wisconsin
Fiesta Bowl	66.7% – Oklahoma State	33.3% – Stanford
Sugar Bowl	78.6% – Michigan	21.4% – Virginia Tech
Orange Bowl	80% – Clemson	20% – West Virginia
National Championship	66.7% – Alabama	33.3% – LSU

The 2012 BCS on ESPN: BCS Survival Guide; BCS Across ESPN Platforms; ESPN Studio Presence at BCS; Bowls by the Numbers

-30-