Lee Corso’s retirement: Which team’s headgear we associate most with the GameDay broadcaster
Lee Corso’s final College GameDay appearance is Saturday for Texas-Ohio State in Week 1. Before The Snap shares some favorite moments.
For nearly the last four decades, Lee Corso has woken up the country on Saturdays in the fall, getting college football fans from all kinds ready for that day’s slate of games.
It’s part of why Corso is considered the Godfather of College Football, and why he is a living legend in every sense of the name.
On Saturday though, Corso, the jubilant 90-year-old college football treasure, sat at the “College GameDay” desk alongside Kirk Herbstreit and Co. for the final time on Saturday as the show aired from Columbus for the Buckeyes’ Week 1 showdown with No. 1 Texas.
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Corso’s final show on the “College GameDay” desk with Rece Davis, Nick Saban, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee is a full-circle moment, as the show will be set up at Ohio State for No. 1 Texas vs. No. 2 Ohio State, the very same college football town that launched his legendary headgear pick segment.
The show was filled with tributes and honors that spanned from Herbstreit wearing a custom suit jacket with photos of Corso and him and Ohio State giving him a customized Buckeyes helmet. And to no surprise, Corso’s 431st and final headgear pick went to his first love, Brutus Buckeye, who he has now picked a record-breaking 46 times on the show.
So, with Corso now retired from his post as the maestro of “College GameDay,” it’s only write to say, “Thank you Sweetheart” for all the memories throughout the years on the desk.
USA TODAY Sports provided updates and highlights of Lee Corso’s final “College GameDay” show. Follow below:
This section has been updated with new information
To little and no surprise, Lee Corso has gone with Ohio State for his final headgear pick as he put on Brutus Buckeye for the 46th time.
“Give me my first love” Corso said in front of the entire Ohio Stadium.
It remains unknown — if there even is one — on who the guest picker will be on “College GameDay” for Saturday’s show.
Could ESPN and “College GameDay” have something up their sleeves for Lee Corso’s final show since they haven’t announced a guest picker yet? We will soon find out as noon ET is quickly approaching.
Yes, “Big Noon Kickoff” will simulcast Lee Corso’s final headgear pick on “College GameDay” on Saturday. A classy move by Fox.
Former ESPN analyst Tom Rinaldi, as he has done so many times, offered a beautiful storytelling tribute to his former ESPN colleague Lee Corso on Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” on Saturday.
The first attempt at Pat McAfee’s Kicking Contest is good, as Ohio State student Logan Pallo drills the field goal straight through the post for $250,000.
So we know that Lee Corso has picked Ohio State the most during his headgear pick segment, 45 times to be exact. But which coach has the living legend picked against the most?
The answer is a tad surprising and a bit awkward given he is now Corso’s “College GameDay” colleague: Nick Saban.
Speaking with the “College GameDay” crew, Kirk Herstreit asked Lee Corso if there was anything he’d like to say to the fans of college football for the tributes and thank you’s they’ve been sending in for him since his retirement was announced in April.
LC kept it short and beautifully sweet.
“Thank you. That says it all,” Corso said.
Talking to ESPN’s Jen Lada inside Ohio Stadium, Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian offered his thoughts on the impact Lee Corso has made on college football over the years.
“We wouldn’t be where we are today, in the state of college football without you,” Sarkisian said.
Coming out of a TV timeout, the entire “College GameDay” crew — Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban, Desmond Howar and Pat McAfee — put on jumbo sized Lee Corso headgears as a sign of their tribute and thanks to the Godfather of College Football.
A pretty cool gesture by everyone on the dais for a man that has made a living of putting mascot headgears on for the last 29 years.
No. In a statement to the USA TODAY Sports network, ESPN Vice President of Sports Production and “College GameDay” Matthew Garrett said that the headgear pick segment on “College GameDay” will retire with Corso after Week 1’s show.
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Going into the first commercial break of the show, Ohio State football coach Ryan Day presented Lee Corso with his very own Buckeye helmet — the first gift of what is expected to be many gifts for the Godfather of College Football today.
Corso and Ohio State have been synonymous with each other on “College GameDay” over the years, as he has put on the Brutus Buckeye headgear more than any single Division I program in the show’s history. For that, the helmet has 45 buckeye leafs, the very same sticker that is on the helmets of each Ohio State player, on it.
Day also had a sticker waiting to be put on the helmet, should the 90-year-old want to pick Ohio State to beat Texas later in the show. How did Corso respond to that? Exactly how you thought he might.
“Not so fast, my friend,” Corso said.
Though the College Football Playoff semifinals aren’t set to happen for another five months, Lee Corso has made his predictions on who he believes will be the final four teams in the 12-team field:
- CFP Semifinal: Penn State over Notre Dame
- CFP Semifinal: LSU over Clemson
- CFP championship game: LSU over Penn State
According to a lower third graphic of the “College GameDay” show timeline on the ESPN broadcast, Lee Corso’s final headgear pick is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. ET.
The relationship between Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso is well documented on “College GameDay” each week. As a way to say “thank you” to his mentor, Herbstreit is rocking a suit jacket that has photos of Corso and him inside of it. A pretty cool and touching gesture by Herbstreit.
As “College GameDay” opens up on ESPN, Lee Corso is welcomed to “We Want Lee” chants from those behind the “College GameDay” set at Ohio State.
The Godfather of College Football is rocking a pretty classy tux for his final show. Here’s his final pre-show conversation with Kirk Herbstreit ahead of Saturday’s show:
As he has done every Saturday morning, Lee Corso got the fans going in Columbus before the start of his final “College GameDay” show by going back-and-forth between Ohio State and Texas’ helmets. To no surprise, he went with Ohio State.
Before he took off on his final flight to a “College GameDay” site, Lee Corso was honored in a touching way on Thursday, Aug. 29 by a Southwest Airlines gate attendant at the Orlando International Airport. After giving a small speech in front of those that were boarding the flight to Columbus, the gate agent presented Corso with a picture of the day they met, November 18, 2021, at the very same gate that was staging a flight also to Columbus.
When did Lee Corso start on ‘College GameDay’?
Corso first appeared on “College GameDay” in 1987 when the pregame show launched as an in-studio pregame show. He then joined the show as a full-time analyst two years later and has been on it ever since, making him the only original “College GameDay” personality still with the show.
What is Lee Corso’s headgear pick record?
Corso heads into his final “College GameDay” show with a record of 286-144, according to Cole’s GameDay Blog, a site that has tracked all of Corso’s picks and been referenced by ESPN.
When did Lee Corso’s headgear picks start on “College GameDay”?
Corso made his first headgear pick on “College GameDay” back on Oct. 5, 1996 when the show visited Ohio Stadium for Ohio State and Penn State. The headgear pick, which consisted of putting the headgear of Brutus Buckeye on, was made possible because of Kirk Herbstreit and his wife, Alison.
How old is Lee Corso?
Corso recently turned 90 years old on August 7.
Where is ‘College GameDay’ in Week 1?
- Location: Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio)
“College GameDay” will be located on the campus of Ohio State outside Ohio Stadium during Week 1 of the college football season for the Aug. 30 showdown between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 1 Texas.
When does ‘College GameDay’ start today?
- Date: Saturday, Aug. 30
- Time: 9 a.m. ET
“College GameDay” will start at 9 a.m. ET from Ohio State in Columbus on Saturday, Aug. 30 and run through noon ET leading into the first window of college football games.
Stream “College GameDay” live with Fubo (free trial)
‘College GameDay’ 2025: TV channel, streaming options
ESPN will broadcast “College GameDay” on Saturday from Ohio State in Columbus. Streaming options include the ESPN app (with a TV login) and Fubo, which carries the ESPN family of networks and offers a free trial to new subscribers.
