College football to me is…. 18 ESPN analysts answer the question

ESPN will kick off the 2012 college football season with 46 games in five days across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, Longhorn Network and ESPN Radio as part of the fifth annual DICK’s Sporting Goods Kickoff Week August 30 to September 3. The season will conclude with all five post-season Bowl Championship Series bowls, highlighted by the Discover BCS National Championship Game Jan. 7, at 8:30 p.m. ET, on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Radio.

This season’s Labor Day weekend season kickoff celebration will showcase 16 teams in the Associated Press poll highlighted by eight of the top 10. The weekend coverage will conclude with Georgia Tech at No. 16 Virginia Tech in a Labor Day telecast Monday, Sept. 3, at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

ESPN Analysts answer the question – College football to me is..
Fans love college football for a variety of different reasons – the passion, pageantry, tradition, marching bands, dedication to the school, Saturdays, tailgating and more. ESPN college football analysts have played, coached, watched, debated and talked about the sport for most of their lives. So we asked 18 of them why they love the sport for an ESPN Front Row video post (participating analysts in alphabetical order: Mike Bellotti, Ray Bentley, Todd Blackledge, John Congemi, Ed Cunningham, Brad Edwards, Rod Gilmore, Brian Griese, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Brock Huard, Danny Kanell, Tom Luginbill, Trevor Matich, Jesse Palmer, Chris Spielman, Matt Stinchcomb and Andre Ware).

Goal Line & WatchESPN
For the third consecutive season, the ESPN Goal Line network will offer unlimited live cut-ins and highlights from numerous top college football games every Saturday beginning at noon. Goal Line is currently available to Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Verizon FiOS TV, Comcast and Midcontinent Communications customers. The season will kick off with a special edition of Goal Line on Thursday, Aug. 30, at 7 p.m. ESPNU will simulcast Goal Line Thursday, Aug. 30 from 7 to 10:30 p.m.

Viewers can also watch live ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Goal Line game action online at WatchESPN.com or on smart phones and tablets through the WatchESPN app. The service – available to customers of Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Verizon FiOS TV and Comcast Xfinity TV – gives fans the ability to watch ESPN’s live networks, no matter where they are.

Schedule highlights

• The season will kick off with ESPN doubleheader: No. 9 South Carolina at Vanderbilt at 7 p.m. followed by Washington State, led by new head coach Mike Leach, at BYU at 10:15 p.m.
• ESPN3 will offer exclusive coverage of 15 games and 25 games overall.
• Saturday Night Football Presented by Windows on ABC, the first primetime weekly college football series on broadcast television, will kick off with No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 2 Alabama. The Cowboys Classic matchup from Dallas Cowboys stadium Arlington, Texas will begin at 8 p.m.
• ESPN’s weekly Friday night series will kick off with No. 24 Boise State at No. 13 Michigan State in a showdown between Mountain West and Big Ten teams at 8 p.m.
• Overall, the weekend will include 16 teams from the AP preseason poll. Additional teams include:
  • No. 1 USC against Hawaii Saturday, Sept. 1, at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN Radio
  • No. 3 LSU against North Texas Saturday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. on ESPNU
  • No. 5 Oregon against Arkansas State Saturday, Sept. 1, at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN
  • No. 6 Georgia against Buffalo Saturday, Sept. 1, at noon on ESPN3 and the SEC Network
  • No. 7 Florida State against Murray State Saturday, Sept. 1, at 6 p.m. on ESPN3
  • No. 9 South Carolina at Vanderbilt Thursday, Aug. 30, at 7 p.m. on ESPN
  • No. 10 Arkansas against Jacksonville State Saturday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. on ESPN3
  • No. 14 Clemson vs. Auburn from Atlanta in the 2012 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game Saturday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. on ESPN
  • No. 15 Texas against Wyoming Saturday, Sept. 1, at 8 p.m. on Longhorn Network
  • No. 16 Virginia Tech against Georgia Tech Monday, Sept. 3, at 8 p.m. on ESPN
  • No. 17 Nebraska against Southern Mississippi Saturday, Sept. 1, at 3:30 p.m. on ABC and ESPN2
  • No. 23 Florida against Bowling Green Saturday, Sept. 1, at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN
  • No. 25 Louisville against Kentucky Sunday, Sept. 2, at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN

2012 Season
With the addition of games from the Mountain West Conference, ESPN will be the only network to televise home games from all 11 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences and BYU. ESPN will also televise road games featuring Notre Dame, Navy and Army.

The 2012 college football season on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN 3D, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN Regional Television and ESPN GamePlan will total more than 450 regular-and post-season games, concluding with the entire Bowl Championship Series, highlighted by the National Championship Game, on ESPN. The schedule will include weekly Saturday night games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, weekly ESPN and ESPNU Thursday night contests and telecasts every Friday.

ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN 3D, Longhorn Network and ESPN Radio Schedule

* Local blackout may apply
** Reverse mirror in which ESPN2 will regionalize two games on ABC to markets not receiving the telecast-30-