30 Years Ago Today, Lee Corso Started One of College GameDay’s Most Iconic Traditions

The tradition began with a borrowed Brutus Buckeye head outside Ohio Stadium in 1996 and ended with the same mascot on the 50-yard line in 2025.

ESPN College GameDay is a weekly television program that airs during the college football season. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Former ESPN analyst Lee Corso pulled a Brutus Buckeye mascot head over his own 30 years ago Monday, and that pick outside Ohio Stadium grew into the signature segment of College GameDay for nearly three decades.

Corso backed the Buckeyes in the No. 4 Penn State at No. 3 Ohio State showdown on Oct. 5, 1996, and Ohio State won 38-7. ESPN's stats account marked the anniversary Monday, noting Corso picked Ohio State more than any other program.

How did Corso's headgear tradition start?

OHIO‼️

On this date in 1996, Lee Corso made his first-ever iconic headgear pick, picking the Ohio State Buckeyes over Penn State.

Corso went on to make 430 headgear picks on @CollegeGameDay and chose the Buckeyes 45 times, seven more than any other team! pic.twitter.com/EjXea6Pka2

— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) October 5, 2026

The idea needed help from Kirk Herbstreit, the former Ohio State quarterback who joined the GameDay desk in 1996. Herbstreit's girlfriend at the time, Alison, cheered for the Buckeyes, and Corso saw that connection as his way to the mascot.

"Lee Corso called me early in the week and said, 'Sweetheart, can you ask Alison to find out if I can have the Brutus head for my pick?'" Herbstreit said.

Ohio State's cheerleading coach turned down the first request. Corso pushed Herbstreit to ask again, and the school's athletic director signed off. Corso then made the pick in the parking lot outside the Horseshoe.

Lee Corso's headgear picks record

Corso made 431 headgear picks before he retired and finished 287-144. The ESPN Insights post cites 430 picks and 45 Ohio State selections, totals that stop before his farewell show, and at that point the Buckeyes led Alabama by seven.

His final pick brought him back to Columbus on Aug. 30, 2025, for No. 1 Texas at No. 3 Ohio State. Corso stood on the 50-yard line 16 minutes before kickoff and said, "Give me my first love," before wearing Brutus for the 46th time. Ohio State won 14-7, and the episode became the most-watched College GameDay ever, averaging 3.5 million viewers.

How is Lee Corso doing now?

Kirk Herbstreit talks to Lee Corso on the set of ESPN College GameDay | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Corso hasn't adjusted easily to retirement. He told WESH's Daren Stoltzfus in Orlando last fall, "Lousy. I hate it. I can't watch College GameDay. I just can't get used to it."

The American Football Coaches Association honored him with its Amos Alonzo Stagg Award at its January convention in Charlotte, N.C. Days later, the former Indiana coach watched the Hoosiers win the national championship from his Florida home instead of traveling to the title game.

Corso turned 91 on Aug. 7. Herbstreit met him at the Orlando airport a few weeks before the 2026 season and said the Cicero, Illinois native has "a lot of physical ailments that he's been dealing with, but his mind is incredible."

College GameDay is airing its 40th season this fall, and it's the first in the show's history without Corso on a single episode.