Fans relive iconic Lee Corso moment ahead of ‘College GameDay’ return to Texas Tech

On Saturday morning, 'College GameDay' will return to the wonderful Texas town of Lubbock, home to the No. 8 Texas Tech Red Raiders, who square off against No. 7 BYU in a massively consequential Big 12 showdown. The only downer? Lee Corso won't be there to re-enact his iconic headgear pick.

Back in 2008, the College GameDay crew trekked out to Lubbock to cover a top-10 and undefeated Red Raider squad hosting, at the time, the No. 1 team in the country, Texas. Tech went on to win 39-33 in one of the decade's more exhilarating college football games. But the pregame fireworks were just as wild.

With trusty Kirk Herbstreit and Corso sitting at that same desk some 17 years ago, once the time to make a pick came around, Lee Corso ultimately fastened the Red Raider mascot head onto his own noggin. He didn't end the hijinks there, as Corso then pulled out two 12-gauge shotguns and pumped them high into the air as he fired blanks into the sky, all while Herbstreit dove out of the way in panic.

"Let me see what's going on — what do I got here?" Corso barked through the mascot head as he grabbed hold of the guns and let a few rounds fly. Herbstreit trembled, "Oh my God," whilst watching his set-mate go full outlaw live on television. Of course, fans lost their collective minds.

This moment from Coach Corso at Texas Tech 🤣 pic.twitter.com/mE9Jg6gIH5
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) November 7, 2025

As you can see, that iconic video of an awesome College GameDay moment started to recirculate this week ahead of the crew's return visit to Red Raider country. Just like in '08, this TT club also has conference title and postseason Playoff aspirations and are still very much alive, if not favored, to make both of those dreams. reality.

Going back to that 2008 matchup, though, you had future NFL names like Colt McCoy, Jordan Shipley, Fozzy Whittaker on Texas with Texas Tech's receiver duo of Michael Crabtree and Edward Britton notching over 260 combined receiving yards as part of a 499-yard passing performance from quarterback Graham Harrell.

Texas Tech Red Raiders quarterback Graham Harrell (6) runs from pressure by Texas Longhorns defensive tackle Lamarr Houston (33) | Brendan Maloney-Imagn Images

Those numbers are totally absurd, especially against the No. 1 team, and even by Patrick Mahomes standards. Which, speaking of, the former Red Raider star, multi-time Super Bowl champion and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback is also making his own return to Lubbock, this time to serve as the celebrity guest picker on the GameDay broadcast.

There's sure to be replays of that awesome flourish by Lee Corso throughout the broadcast, while the home crowd will surely persuade the crew to lean towards Texas Tech in this immense Big 12 contest.

More on College Football HQ