Rece Davis confirms ‘College GameDay’ headgear pick will be retired

As Lee Corso dons the mascot headgear for the final time on Saturday, it was confirmed once and for all that it’s a tradition that ends with his final appearance on College GameDay.

Corso will make his 431st and final headgear pick when he chooses between Ohio State and Texas. GameDay host Rece Davis teased that it will be “different than anything we’ve ever done” and “one of one.”

While we wait to find out what that means, Davis also confirmed that Pat McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit, or anyone else will not continue the tradition of wearing mascot headgear to end the program.

“I can put that rumor to rest because I’ve gone on record early in this summer saying anyone who tries to put on a mascot headgear to make a pick at the end of the show, I will deliver a form tackle that would make Chris Spielman jealous,” Davis said on Friday, per Eleven Warriors.

As soon as Corso’s retirement was announced, people started wondering if the tradition would continue, as it has become such a staple of the GameDay experience. Davis and Herbstreit both immediately said they felt the tradition should end with Corso, while Desmond Howard and Nick Saban certainly didn’t seem like the types to want to do it.

That left McAfee as the only viable choice to continue doing it. However, as Awful Announcing’s Ben Koo has noted, with Corso missing multiple shows the last few years, McAfee’s bombastic, wrestling promo-style final pick became the show’s unofficial closing moment. The crowd usually erupts — helped by the fact that McAfee almost always picks the home team — and his pick often turns into the show’s most viral clip.

It makes sense to let the tradition go with Corso, as it just won’t be the same with anyone else. That said, it does make one wonder if Big Nook Kickoff will seize the opportunity to co-opt the tradition for itself.