What will Lee Corso’s final headgear pick on College GameDay be?

Lee Corso bids farewell to College GameDay this weekend, but not without making history with his final headgear pick to cap off a legendary career.

Lee Corso will make his final headgear pick this weekend. What team will college football's favorite analyst make in his sendoff? | Andrew Wevers-Imagn Images

College football will witness the end of an era as beloved broadcaster Lee Corso makes his final appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay before his retirement from the show.

As the legendary analyst nears the end of his storied career, fans are buzzing over which mascot headgear he’ll don for his final game pick.

For a generation, Corso’s theatrical selections have been a Saturday morning staple, blending football insight with his own unique brand of entertainment, and his last headgear pick promises to be emotional, symbolic, and unforgettable.

What will Lee Corso's final headgear pick be?

What we know is that he’ll be down to either Ohio State or Texas, as ESPN and College GameDay will be on site in Columbus to take in this marquee early-season rematch of the College Football Playoff semifinal game between the Buckeyes and Longhorns.

Corso and Ohio State have been a successful match over the years. It was in Columbus where he made his first-ever headgear pick, when he correctly predicted the Buckeyes would defeat Penn State.

Reigning national champion Ohio State is a narrow favorite over Texas, which debuts Arch Manning, the former No. 1 overall recruit, as its starting quarterback in this game.

Texas has more than its fair share of advocates heading into this matchup, boasting what might finish as the best defense in college football, while Ohio State has to replace several key contributors from its national title team and will have a new, inexperienced quarterback in Julian Sayin.

Still, we’re going with the nostalgia pick. It was here that Lee Corso made Ohio State his first-ever headgear pick, and it’ll be here where he makes the Buckeyes his last pick, book-ending a legendary career and putting a cap on a beloved college football tradition.

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Where Lee Corso left off last football season

Corso proved to be the most accurate of anyone on College GameDay when making his predictions for every game last season.

Despite appearing less frequently on the panel than its co-hosts, Corso finished the 2024 season by going 79-39 overall, with a GameDay-best 66.9 percent success rate.

That was better than Kirk Herbstreit, who placed second among College GameDay hosts with a 91-48 record in his predictions (65.5%).

Desmond Howard made good on 60.9 percent of his predictions, while former Alabama head coach Nick Saban completed a 60.3 percent run in his picks last fall.

Pat McAfee was last among the projection artists, going 87-65 (57.2%).

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How right was Lee Corso all-time?

Corso has made a total of 430 mascot headgear game predictions over his career, according to ESPN’s official numbers.

And he’s well over .500 over that time, heading into his final show with a .665 win percentage in his career, boasting a 286-144 all-time personal record.

Corso has donned the mascot headgear of 69 different college football programs, and the school with the most selections is where he’ll hang it up for good.

Ohio State leads the way with 45 of Corso’s headgear picks, including his first on Oct. 5, 1996, when he correctly picked the Buckeyes to take down Penn State.

Alabama is second among Corso’s favored teams, earning 45 headgear predictions over the years. LSU is third with 25, Florida is fourth with 22, and Oregon fifth with 21 picks.

Corso’s 400th headgear pick came early in the 2023 season, when he accurately projected Colorado would defeat rival Colorado State.

Corso completed a perfect record in his headgear picks during the 1999 season, his most wins without any losses since he invented the tradition.

What team will Corso select when he makes his final headgear pick? You can find out on Saturday morning, as College GameDay kicks off at the Texas vs. Ohio State game.

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