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- How many headgear picks has Lee Corso made?
- Which team has Lee Corso picked the most?
- Lee Corso headgear picks record
- When was Lee Corso's first headgear pick?
- Has Lee Corso gone undefeated in headgear picks?
There aren't many aspects of college football Saturdays that look the same in 2025 as they once did in 1996. But one strange-yet-entertaining tradition has held strong: Lee Corso putting on a college mascot's head.
The former football coach, and member of ESPN's "College GameDay" crew since the show's inception in 1987, became famous for his "headgear picks" on the long-running college football pregame program. Corso first donned mascot headgear in 1996. Since then, it's been a staple of "College GameDay."
As the 90-year-old heads into retirement at the beginning of the 2025 college football season, so too will his headgear picks. Corso has used hundreds of mascots' heads to decide which team he thinks will come out victorious in a given matchup, and he'll make one final headgear pick for Texas vs. Ohio State in August 2025.
Here's a historical breakdown of Corso's headgear picks, from his all-time record in picking teams to the story of his first selection involving a mascot head.
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How many headgear picks has Lee Corso made?
Between 1996 and 2024, Lee Corso has made a total of 430 headgear picks.
When Texas takes on Ohio State in Week 1 of the 2025 college football season, Corso will make his 431st and final headgear pick.
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Which team has Lee Corso picked the most?
Of the 430 all-time picks Corso has made, he has selected a total of 69 different college football programs to claim victory. However, one of those teams stands above the rest in terms of Corso's favor: he picked Ohio State to win more than any other squad.
Naturally, Corso's most-picked headgear teams are some of the most decorated programs in the country over the last few decades. Here's how his headgear selections look by top teams:
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Lee Corso headgear picks record
More often than not, when Corso has put on a team's mascot headgear, it results in a win for that squad. He owns a 286-144 all-time record in headgear selections, which equates to a .665 win percentage.
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When was Lee Corso's first headgear pick?
Corso's first headgear pick came on October 5, 1996, when he and the "College GameDay" crew were in Columbus for an Ohio State vs. Penn State matchup. Corso, who was nearly a decade into his analyst career at the time following his run as a head coach, donned the Buckeyes' "Brutus Buckeye" mascot head to make his first pick in a historic run.
Ohio State came into that game ranked third in the country, while the Nittany Lions were No. 4. And not only was Corso's Buckeyes selection correct, but Ohio State put forth a dominant 38-7 win.
How did Corso convince Ohio State to use the mascot head? That was recently explained by another "College GameDay" staple, Kirk Herbstreit, whose girlfriend in 1996 (and future wife), Alison, was a cheerleader for the Buckeyes.
"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.
Herbstreit proceeded to ask Alison to ask the team's cheerleading coach, who initially said no to the idea. However, Corso asked Herbstreit to check one more time, and after consulting with Ohio State's athletic director, they got approval to use the Brutus head.
Looking back on his first headgear pick, Corso said he thought it would be funny to use the mascot's head for his selection. The Ohio State crowd went crazy for Corso's mascot head, and it quickly turned into a tradition.
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Has Lee Corso gone undefeated in headgear picks?
Over an entire college football season, Lee Corso has gone undefeated with his headgear picks just once: in 1999.
That year, Corso went 11-0 with his headgear picks on "College GameDay," a feat he would never achieve again. However, Corso has had some other levels of success with his selections, including successfully picking the winning squad in his first, 100th, 200th, 300th, and 400th career headgear picks:
- First: Ohio State (over Penn State), October 1996
- 100th: Florida State (over Boston College), September 2005
- 200th: Wisconsin (over Michigan State), October 2011
- 300th: TCU (over West Virginia), October 2017
- 400th: Colorado (over Colorado State), September 2023
Additionally, there have been three teams that Corso picked at least twice that never let him down. USC is 17-0 all-time when Corso used a headgear pick on the Trojans, while Virginia Tech has gone 4-0, and North Dakota State has gone 3-0.
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