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Lee Corso's Most Iconic Alabama Headgear Moments: Just a Minute

Corso will make his final headgear pick on "College GameDay" for Week 1 of the 2025 college football season.
Katie Windham|
Sep 1, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (far left) on the set of ESPN College Gameday with Chris Fowler (second to left) and Lee Corso (in elephant costume) and Kirk Herbstreit (far right) before the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Michigan Wolverines at Cowboys Stadium.
Sep 1, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (far left) on the set of ESPN College Gameday with Chris Fowler (second to left) and Lee Corso (in elephant costume) and Kirk Herbstreit (far right) before the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Michigan Wolverines at Cowboys Stadium. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Welcome to BamaCentral’s "Just a Minute," a daily video series featuring BamaCentral's Alabama beat writers. Multiple times a week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral's assistant editor looks back on some of Lee Corso's best College GameDay moments involving the Alabama Crimson Tide after ESPN announced this season would be his last.

Week 1 of the 2025 college football season will be the last time Lee Corso makes a headgear pick on ESPN's "College GameDay." The television network announced Thursday morning that Corso will be retiring shortly after his 90th birthday with nearly 40 seasons of entertaining college football fans under his belt.

"“My family and I will be forever indebted for the opportunity to be part of ESPN andCollege GameDay for nearly 40 years,” Corso said in a press release “I have a treasure of many friends, fond memories and some unusual experiences to take with me into retirement.”

Corso has put on the "Big Al" headgear 38 times, more than another team except Ohio State (45.) The next closest team is LSU at 25. He had plenty of opportunities to cover the Crimson Tide.

SEE ALSO: How Alabama Has Fared When ESPN's 'College GameDay' Comes to Tuscaloosa

Because of this, some of Corso's most iconic moments came while donning the Big Al's mascot head from picking against Ole Miss in The Grove with Katy Perry at his side in 2014, or picking Alabama to upset Georgia in Athens for the blackout game in 2008, boldy declaring, "That dog is ugly!" (0:57 mark in the video below)

Corso may have incorrectly picked against Alabama in Nick Saban's first three national championship game appearances with the Crimson Tide, but Corso got to help welcome Saban to the "College GameDay" set as he made the transition from head coach to analyst.

If you're anything like me, Lee Corso was a big part of your college football Saturdays growing up. Congrats to Coach Corso on a greet career!

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Katie Windham
KATIE WINDHAM

Katie Windham is the assistant editor for BamaCentral, primarily covering football, basketball, gymnastics and softball. She is a two-time graduate of the University of Alabama and has covered a variety of Crimson Tide athletics since 2019 for outlets like The Tuscaloosa News, The Crimson White and the Associated Press before joining BamaCentral full time in 2021. Windham has covered College Football Playoff games, the Women's College World Series, NCAA March Madness, SEC Tournaments and championships in multiple sports.

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