Everyone is all over the announcments of the ESPN/ABC crews for the 2009 season, and the names range from the celebrities (Musburger and Herbstreit) to the familiar (Dave Neal) to the cringeworthy (Matt Millen) to the unknown (Carter Blackburn?).

Georgia fans will recognize two of the names brought on as part of the deal to enhance ESPN’s SEC coverage. Former Bulldog starts Matt Stinchcomb and David Pollack will join the team: Stinchcomb as studio host for the syndicated SEC games, and both Pollack and Stinchcomb as studio hosts for ESPNU games. Both will also be a part of the SEC Weekly show on ESPNU alongside host Cara Capuano.

When Stinchcomb was part of the G-Day broadcast you got the impression that it was kind of an audition, and he came across well. The powers-that-be in Bristol must have agreed. Pollack similarly has built experience on local Atlanta sports radio and seems at ease behind the microphone.

Of all the moves (oy, Andre Ware), I’m glad to see Nessler join the top ESPN crew. It’s not that Mike “Britney Spears” Patrick was BCS on Fax bad, but ESPN has spread him so thin across so many sports that he never really seemed (to me) as someone who could be the face (or voice) of primetime college football. Now of course Nessler isn’t a football-only guy and is as well-known for his basketball work as anything else, but he does have a strong football background and local ties – longtime Falcon fans will remember him as the play-by-play guy in the 1980s.

And of course, you can’t have an early afternoon SEC game without a Dave. Amen to that and Osmose commercials.

ESPN Regional Affiliates

It was announced last month that Peachtree TV would carry the noon ESPN Regional game of the week (can we just keep calling it the JP game to keep things straight?). But that was only for Atlanta. As with JP/Raycom/Lincoln Financial, the ESPN Regional games will be shown on a network of local stations throughout the southeast. Since the Peachtree TV announcement, other affiliates have been announced. This is still a work-in-progress (I don’t see a Macon affiliate, for example), but here’s a partial list:

Georgia

• Atlanta, GA – WPCH (Ptree TV)
• Augusta, GA – WRDW (CBS 12)
• Columbus, GA – WXTX (Fox)
• Savannah, GA – WTGS (Fox)
• Albany, GA – WALB (NBC 10)

Florida

• Jacksonville, FL – WJXT (News4)

Carolinas

• Charlotte, NC – WAXN (TV64)
• Columbia, SC – WIS (NBC 10)
• Greenville/Spartanburg, SC – WSPA/WYCW

Other updates and affiliates can be found here.