COLUMBUS, Ohio — Just as it was the first time, Lee Corso’s final headgear pick was Brutus Buckeye.
Corso selected the third-ranked Buckeyes to beat top-ranked Texas on his final appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday.
“This is one of the easiest picks I’ve ever made. Texas is loaded. Texas is No. 1. They have a Manning at quarterback. Poor Ohio State. They ain’t got a chance. Give me my first love!” Corso said before putting on Brutus’ head for the 46th time.
Corso made the prediction on the 50-yard line at Ohio Stadium 16 minutes before kickoff, quite a change from the first time in 1996 when it was done in the parking lot outside the Horseshoe. And the Buckeyes sent him into retirement on a winning note, defeating the Longhorns 14-7.
The Ohio State band — which spelled out Corso during its pregame routine — was on the field and behind Corso as he made his pick.
It was GameDay’s 26th appearance in Columbus. It was outside Ohio Stadium on Oct. 5, 1996, where Corso’s popular headgear prediction segment began.
Corso donned Brutus Buckeye’s head before Ohio State faced Penn State, and the rest is history.
Ohio State is 32-14 when Corso picked the Buckeyes.
Coach Ryan Day gave Corso an Ohio State helmet with a buckeye leaf on it for each time he chose the Buckeyes. Day also gave Corso an additional sticker to put on in case he picked the Buckeyes.
A local restaurant also made an 85-pound cake of Brutus’ head.
“To everyone who has been a part of the journey, thank you,” Corso said during the opening segment of Saturday’s show.
Corso, who turned 90 on Aug. 7, has been a part of “GameDay” since its start in 1987 and has made pregame shows entertaining under a simple philosophy: “Football is just the vehicle. It’s entertainment, sweetheart.”
The three-hour show was a celebration of Corso more than a finale. Besides looking back at Corso’s career, the show analyzed Saturday’s key games and included an interview with Bill Belichick, who makes his debut with North Carolina on Monday night against TCU.
“It’s a celebratory thing, but you also get wistful,” said Chris Fowler, who was the host of “GameDay” from 1990-2014 and did a segment with Herbstreit and Corso during the second hour of the show. “I wanted him to look around and take in this scene and not take it for granted and enjoy what’s going to happen in the next couple of hours because he largely created this. Without him, I don’t think ‘GameDay’ ever gets on the road and gets off the ground and becomes this. I hope he can appreciate that.”
Corso wore a tuxedo for his final show. He got to St. John Arena two hours before the show started at 9 a.m. and relaxed with family and the “GameDay” crew. Corso made his way on set 20 minutes before it began. He took a few minutes to relax near the back of the stage and chatted with stage manager Mike Ruhlman before joining Kirk Herbstreit, Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban at the desk for the show’s first segment.
Corso has worn 69 schools’ mascot headgear and has dressed up as Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish leprechaun, the Stanford tree and historic figures James Madison and Benjamin Franklin. However, Brutus remains Corso’s first love, wearing it 45 times.
Corso has a 66.5% (286-144) winning rate on his headgear predictions, which is much better than his 73-85-6 mark in 15 years as a coach at Louisville, Indiana and Northern Illinois.
However, Corso wasn’t the only one to put on a mascot’s head. The “GameDay” crew had on giant heads of Corso during a segment on the set across the street from Ohio Stadium before the show moved inside the Horseshoe for the final hour.
Besides ESPN, Fox Sports showed Corso’s pick. Fox’s Tom Rinaldi and Chris Fallica — who worked for ESPN and were part of “GameDay” — gave their tributes to Corso during the “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show.
“People don’t really understand, if it doesn’t take off maybe there is no ‘Inside the NBA’ or ‘Big Noon Kickoff’,” Fallica said after visiting the ESPN set.
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