ESPN's College GameDay Makes Picks for UCLA-LSU

The panel of four hosts was split down the middle in its predictions for Saturday's game between the Bruins and Tigers.

Just hours away from kickoff, some of the biggest personalities in college football made their thoughts known for the game between the Bruins and Tigers.

ESPN's College GameDay hosts made their picks for all of the big games Saturday, including UCLA football's (1-0) matchup with No. 16 LSU at the Rose Bowl. Both Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit – the former having the tendency to be the most eclectic of the bunch and the latter typically acting as the voice of reason – sided with the Bruins, while Desmond Howard and celebrity guest picker Kane Brown went with the Tigers.

"UCLA is gonna win this one because LSU has been off balance because (Hurricane) Ida," Corso said.

The rarity of Corso and Herbstreit agreeing on an upset pick was not lost on Herbsreit.

"I was kind of hoping for all the 'LSU, LSU, LSU,' and then I would just 'shhh, UCLA,' but you picked UCLA so it kinda makes me a little nervous here," Herbstreit said. "I'm going UCLA, I think Dorian Thompson-Robinson is the difference along with Zach Charbonnet."

Other members of the GameDay crew tossed in their two cents as well. David Pollack picked LSU despite anticipating a hot start for UCLA. ESPN research producer and gambling expect Chris "The Bear" Fallica picked the Bruins.

"This is the most intriguing game of the day, in my opinion," Fallica said.

The ESPN fan poll ended in a 75-25 advantage for the Tigers.

Other notable picks throughout the week that went the Bruins' way included two-fifths of Sports Illustrated's panel – Pat Forde and Molly Geary – the majority of CBS Sports' seven experts and ESPN's Bill Connelly, who used his SP+ analytics system to predict a 32-31 UCLA upset.

LSU is currently a 2.5-point betting favorite, according to BetOnline. The Bruins have +113 odds to win straight up, and last beat a ranked team as a home underdog on Oct. 26, 2019, against then-No. 24 Arizona State.

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