Longhorns Country

College GameDay Makes Picks for Texas vs. Ohio State at Cotton Bowl

Lee Corso made his pick for the Cotton Bowl on Friday night.
Zach Dimmitt|
Jan 9, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; ESPN analysts Nick Saban and Lee Corso before the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Jan 9, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; ESPN analysts Nick Saban and Lee Corso before the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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Texas LonghornsOhio State Buckeyes

ARLINGTON -- The Texas Longhorns are underdogs headed into Friday night's Cotton Bowl matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes, but don't tell that to the legendary Lee Corso.

The College GameDay crew made their picks for the College Football Playoff Semifinal, and Corso's choice stood out from the rest of the group. Desmond Howard, Nick Saban and Pat McAfee all picked Ohio State, with McAfee even throwing in an emphatic "Horns Down" to the camera.

Lee Cors
Ohio State mascot Brutus interacts with Lee Corso on the set of ESPN College GameDay prior to the College Football Playoff first round game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Tennessee Volunteers in Columbus on Dec. 21, 2024. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

But Corso put on his Hook 'Em headgear and stayed true to his championship pick from the start of the season.

Take a look:

"Texas is my national champion pick," Corso said earlier in the season. "I'm not going away from that. That's the story, I'm sticking to it. Texas."

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian likely prefers the team to play with an underdog mentality, but Corso's pick is doing the exact opposite.

"I could probably poll everybody in this room and you'd probably all agree, they're the favorite to win the game, and that's okay. But that's football. That's sport," Sarkisian said. "That's why we have to do what we do. So I'm not going to back off of what I said. The reality is the reality. Now, we have to go perform. That's our responsibility as a football team, to go perform. But they've earned that right because of the way they've played here the past couple weeks."

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Zach Dimmitt
ZACH DIMMITT

Zach Dimmitt is the Deputy Editor for Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI. He also contributes as a writer for the On SI channels of the Oregon Ducks, Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans. He was previously the editor-in-chief of Buffalo Bills on SI, Philadelphia Eagles on SI and Seattle Seahawks on SI. Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Dimmitt received his Bachelor’s Degree in journalism at the University of Texas at Austin in 2022. He originally started with SI’s Fan Nation network in 2021, providing extensive coverage of the NFL and NBA along with college football and basketball. In that time, Dimmitt has published thousands of stories and has reached millions of people across multiple fan bases. You can follow him on X at @ZachDimmitt7

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