ESPYs 2014: List of Presenters and Predictions for Biggest Awards

Like its host, Drake, the ESPYs are synonymous with sports.

ESPN's annual award show does much each year to both turn back the clock on the best moments and fill a void left rather bare in the dry month of July, with the World Cup now concluded and baseball on a brief hiatus.

For his part, Drake plans to make the most out of his opportunity. His wealth of connections have him set on entertaining in a manner cohesive with the topics at hand, as he told Jennifer Cingari of ESPN Media Zone:

"

Well, I think what makes a perfect ESPYS host is obviously somebody that can fill the room with energy and joy for the people that are in the seats. But I think most importantly what I bring is the fact that I feel that I know the room better than any host before me just because so many of these guys I have personal relationships with. I think I’m going to be able to tap into some jokes that will be appreciated by my friends in the crowd and also the athletes that I don’t know.

"

Before things get underway, let's take a look at the known presenters and some of the biggest awards the spectacle has to offer.

Details

When: Wednesday, July 16 at 9 p.m. ET

Where: Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles, California

Watch: ESPN

Host: Drake

Presenters: According to Jay Jay Nesheim of ESPN MediaZone, scheduled presenters include Jessica Alba, Jeff Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Victor Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Taye Diggs, Kevin Durant, Colin Kaepernick, Dan Marino, Floyd Mayweather, Jim Parsons, Danica Patrick, Jason Segel, Maria Sharapova, Kiefer Sutherland and Russell Wilson.

Awards

Award	Nominee
Best Male Athlete	Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos; Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers; Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder; Floyd Mayweather, Boxer
Best Female Athlete	Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx; Ronda Rousey, UFC; Mikaela Shiffrin, Olympic Skiing; Breanna Stewart, Connecticut Women’s Basketball
Best Championship Performance	Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion; Kawhi Leonard, NBA Finals MVP; Shabazz Napier, Men’s NCAA Tournament MOP; David Ortiz, World Series MVP
Best Breakthrough Athlete	Nick Foles; Damian Lillard; Richard Sherman; Masahiro Tanaka
Best Upset	Connecticut wins National Championship, NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament; Mercer over Duke, NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament; Chris Weidman over Anderson Silva, UFC 162
Best Game	Alabama vs. Auburn, Iron Bowl; Kansas City Chiefs vs. Indianapolis Colts, AFC Wild Card Playoff; New York Rangers vs. Los Angeles Kings, Stanley Cup Finals Game 5
Best Team	Boston Red Sox, MLB; Connecticut Women’s Basketball; Florida State Football; Los Angeles Kings, NHL; San Antonio Spurs, NBA; Seattle Seahawks, NFL
Best Coach / Manager	Geno Auriemma, Connecticut Women’s Basketball; Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks; John Farrell, Boston Red Sox; Kevin Ollie, Connecticut Men’s Basketball; Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs
Best Comeback Athlete	Josh Beckett, LA Dodgers; Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins; Dominic Moore, NY Rangers, Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder

For the full list of awards and to vote on every category, check out ESPN.com.

Best Male Athlete

USA TODAY Sports

Is this really a debate?

It's nice to see Miguel Cabrera get the nod as a baseball representative, but he does feel like a bit of a random selection just to get the sport involved. Better yet, he certainly doesn't stand a chance this year if he could not bring it home at last year's show after winning the first Triple Crown since 1967. 

Kevin Durant is not even the most deserving NBA player at this juncture (hint—it's LeBron). He's ridiculously dominant, sure, but one can argue were it not for the MVP award, others would have made the list over him.

That said, he's one heck of a speaker and would give a great acceptance speech (let's pause and wonder who he would label "the real Best Male Athlete"):

Floyd Mayweather has an element of age on his side thanks to his track record. While there is no doubting he is easily one of the best fighters in history, it's hard to dish out an award to someone who benefits from a weak overall set of competitors, and he has yet to step in the ring with the one who poses the biggest threat and happens to be another fan favorite.

So yes, the award belongs to Peyton Manning.

This has nothing to do with the popularity of the various sports involved, either. This has everything to do with Manning being arguably the best ever, and on top of that, having the best year of his legendary career—at the age of 37.

Manning rewrote the history books by setting new NFL records for most passing touchdowns and yards in a single season, his complete line being of the eye-popping variety with 5,477 yards and 55 touchdowns, just 10 interceptions and a 68.3 completion percentage.

As if this is something that should just go on the backburner, he also happened to lead the Denver Broncos to the Super Bowl.

Prediction: Manning wins in a landslide

Best Female Athlete

Jordan Johnson/Getty Images

Believe it or not, the competition for the Best Female Athlete Award is much closer than most realize.

Well, the most popular name will likely win in a landslide, but the nominations are great.

There's Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx, who averaged 18.5 points per game a season ago. She led the team to a 26-8 record and took home the 2013 WNBA Finals MVP and led her team to a clean sweep over Atlanta.

Mikaela Shiffrin took home her honors on the international scale; her gold medal in Sochi at the slalom event making her the first American woman to win any hardware in the event since 1972—at 18 years old.

She's been rather visible in her excitement, as illustrated by her Facebook post:

But don't forget Breanna Stewart, the AP's National Player of the Year and Naismith Trophy winner after leading her Connecticut Huskies to a 40-0 record and a title while posting averages of 19.4 points and 8.1 rebounds.

Despite the laundry list of accomplishments the above names tout, it is Ronda Rousey who will come away with the award.

Yes, she's 10-0, each victory by submission or knockout. Yes, she truly is that much better than even the No. 2 ranked fighter in the company. Yes, she is an elite jiu-jitsu practitioner who works as hard as, if not harder than, each fighter in the company.

But her run at the award runs deeper than all of those things.

USA TODAY Sports

In terms of overall importance, Rousey is the Tiger Woods of the UFC. Regardless of the outcome, Rousey brings in viewers and has put an entire sport—not to mention a new women's division—on her back. Like Woods' recent absence, the sport would be crippled if Rousey stepped away, but it surge upon her return.

There isn't a bigger name in the sport, and at this stage there are few bigger names in the world of sports.

Prediction: Rousey wins in a landslide