Ohio State Set to Host Lee Corso's Final Headgear Pick

We could see Lee Corso put on his favorite mascot head one more time in Columbus.

Former Indiana coach Lee Corso picks the Ohio State Buckeyes for the win over his former Hoosiers on ESPN's College Game Day before Thursday's NCAA Division I football game at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind., on August 31, 2017. | Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ESPN has announced that College Gameday will come to Columbus on August 30 for the Ohio State-Texas matchup, and it will feature Lee Corso’s final pick on the show. Corso turns 90 years old this August.

Corso has made 430 headgear picks dating back to 1996 when he first put on the Brutus Buckeye mascot head for the first of 45 times, the most he’s chosen any program. 

📍 Week 1: Columbus, OH

We're kicking off College GameDay with a trip to Texas-Ohio State, as we celebrate Lee Corso's final show back where he first made headgear history! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/FtOLmXPXKB

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) June 10, 2025

College Gameday will air live in its usual time slot, beginning at 9 AM ET on ESPN and ESPNU from the outside St. John Arena on Ohio State’s campus. ESPN will run content celebrating Corso’s legendary career as a coach and broadcaster throughout the show before taking the set inside Ohio Stadium, where he will make his final headgear pick.

The show will mark the 26th time Ohio State has hosted College Gameday, extending its own record for a single program. The Buckeyes are 19-6 when hosting the show.

This trip to Columbus will be the first time since 2014 a defending national champion hosts the show.

While Corso made his fame on the field with the Florida State Seminoles and as a coach with the Indiana Hoosiers, Columbus has always been a special place for one of the most beloved figures in college football. 

“I put Brutus on my head 39 times, that's the most if any team that picked,” Corso said ahead of a regular season meeting with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in 2023. “And I've won two-thirds of the time. That's why it's hard for me not to pick Ohio State.”

While the Buckeyes won that matchup, Corso changed course for the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship matchup between the two storied programs, choosing Notre Dame. 

He’ll make his choice between Brutus and Hook ‘Em for his final selection, and it seems all too fitting that he’d choose Brutus one final time.