At 89 years old, nothing about Lee Corso on College GameDay is perfect anymore. That’s not a knock on Corso or ESPN; it’s just the reality of an aging legend still part of the fabric of the traveling pregame road show.
But Corso has always been closely associated with GameDay, and even with Nick Saban in tow, the show has tried its best to continue to include the legendary coach, even if doing games week in and week out isn’t as easy as it used to be.
He may have been late getting off the set to make his headgear pick. But he was still the only analyst who went against the grain, picking Notre Dame to knock off Texas A&M — which they did, 23-13 — live from College Station. As evidenced by a video shared by Kirk Herbstreit Saturday, in addition to his picks, Corso’s still got it.
It’s NOW officially the start of CFB with our first sight of the Legend Lee Corso here at Texas A&M. Getting ready for @CollegeGameDay pic.twitter.com/u8tSpQbnjb
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) August 31, 2024
Corso didn’t travel with the GameDay crew to Dublin for Georgia Tech-Florida State; he was back on hand for Week 1.
Lee Corso, 89, is back for College GameDay on ESPN. 🏈📺🎙️ pic.twitter.com/LdvNcjOtQu
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 31, 2024
And he made every bit count, as every pick he made Saturday was the correct one; he went a perfect nine-for-nine.
Corso picked Boise State over Georgia Southern (Boise State won 56-45), Vanderbilt over Virginia Tech (Vandy won 34-27 in OT), Penn State over West Virginia (PSU won 34-12), Miami over Florida (The Canes won 41-17) and of course, he picked Notre Dame, if that wasn’t evidence enough by him dressing up — and dancing — like a leprechaun.
Only one GameDay picker got every pick correct yesterday. He’s still got it! pic.twitter.com/0BdWOVPi3F
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 1, 2024
The pure joy he shows dancing around is infectious, even if it’s not quite as energetic as it used to be.
College GameDay in College Station finishes up with…
* A shirtless Pat McAfee
* Guest picker Johnny Manziel
* Lee Corso dressed — and dancing — as a leprechaun
* Nick Saban (hugged by shirtless McAfee): “I’ve never been to anything like this. This is so much fun.” 🏈📺🎙️ pic.twitter.com/DjKmYO4XwP— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 31, 2024
It’s tough to buck the trends, but 89 years old on a college football pregame show is even more unusual. Corso doesn’t sweat the Texas A&M crowd, picking against West Virginia and the Aggies in the company of Pat McAfee and Johnny Manziel, respectively, or being the only one calling for Vanderbilt and Notre Dame wins.
While his age prevents him from being as flashy as he once was, he still stays true to himself.
Staying true to himself saw a perfect performance on Saturday; perhaps we should be more in tune with his picks for the final four of the 12-team Playoff and who he picked as his National Champions.
ESPN College GameDay host Lee Corso has locked in his final four of the 12-team playoff:
🐶Georgia
🌰Ohio State
🤘Texas
☘️Notre DameCorso picks the Longhorns to win this year’s national championship.https://t.co/5gDOv9BeCi pic.twitter.com/f73qAgYMgX
— On3 (@On3sports) August 31, 2024
And although Week 1 isn’t over yet, Corso has already predicted that No. 13 LSU will defeat No. 23 USC in their Sunday night matchup in Las Vegas.