Rece Davis doesn‘t know who Lee Corso will pick on Saturday, but he does know Corso’s final headgear pick will be unique.
In the words of College GameDay’s host, Corso’s headgear pick before Saturday’s Ohio State vs. Texas game at Ohio Stadium – his 431st and final headgear pick before he retires after Saturday’s show – will be “different than anything we’ve ever done.”
While Davis didn’t say exactly how it would be different, Corso’s final headgear pick will take place inside the Shoe, and Davis thanked Ryan Day and Ohio State for accommodating College GameDay to allow them to make the moment special for their 90-year-old longtime analyst, who’s been a staple of GameDay since its inception in 1987.
“Our gratitude to Ohio State and the administration and the athletic department, Ryan and the whole football program, for the way they have adapted a really important day for them to let us and let LC be part of that is really cool,” Davis told a group of reporters on Friday. “And the headgear pick, it'll be number 431 and it'll be one of one. It'll be different from any other one you've ever seen. I don't know who he's picking, but I know the actual structure of it will be different than anything we've ever done.”
When asked jokingly if College GameDay co-host Desmond Howard could be seen donning a Brutus head in the future, Davis said the headgear pick will be retired along with Corso after Saturday’s show.
“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.
The final headgear pick will be made at the same place where the tradition started 29 years ago, as Corso donned a Brutus head in his first-ever headgear pick before Ohio State’s 1996 win over Penn State. Fellow College GameDay co-host Kirk Herbstreit said he had no idea at the time how synonymous with the show the headgear pick would become.
“I just thought it was just a one-time thing. ‘Oh, that was cute.’ And I didn't realize it would become kind of a fabric of the sport over the last 30 years. But now here we are,” Herbstreit said Friday. “When we looked at the schedule, the obvious place was to try to go to Tallahassee (Florida State) where he played, but this game is just so big. The fact it's a noon game, it became a no-brainer to have it here. But it is very kind of storybook, the fact that we started with this, and we ended here in Columbus.”
While College GameDay typically has a guest picker for each show, there won’t be a guest picker on Saturday, keeping the focus on Corso in a show that Herbstreit, Davis and the rest of the College GameDay crew want to be celebratory for Corso rather than sad.
“I'm trying to stay in the celebratory lane this whole weekend, because we don't want to be emotional and be sad when it's his last show,” Herbstreit said. “We can be sad maybe next week when we're in Norman, Oklahoma, and it's like, ‘Where's Lee?’ But for this weekend, we need to be celebrating him and everything that he's meant to us and to the sport.”
FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff will also air Corso’s final headgear pick during its show, which will also broadcast from Ohio State on Saturday morning.
NEW: Fox will televise Lee Corso's final headgear selection on Big Noon Kickoff, @Brett_McMurphy reports.
— On3 (@On3sports) August 29, 2025
Foxs Tom Rinaldi and Chris Fallica are also expected to have a Corso tributehttps://t.co/M42SgEIZTh pic.twitter.com/7mL8wQ0Tfo
Day will be among those who appear on set on College GameDay on Saturday morning, and he said earlier this week that he’s grateful Ohio State has the opportunity to host Corso’s final show.
“Great ambassador of the game. Just somebody who's been positive and builds people up, and he's somebody that I remember just so many years of putting on the mascot heads and just making Saturdays so enjoyable for so many people,” Day said Tuesday when asked about Corso. “Not only as a coach, but as a broadcaster and what he's done, he's had a lot of impact on people. And I just feel like when it's all said and done, and now that his career obviously coaching but now as a broadcaster is ending, you look back on the impact that you made, and he’s certainly made a major impact on a lot of people.
“I just remember all the different times, not only when I've been the head coach at Ohio State but before then, of putting on the Brutus head and what came with that. And so for him to be here for his last mascot game in his last year means a lot to all of us. And we thank him for everything he's done. He's made a lot of impact on a lot of people, and I appreciate him.”
During their interview sessions on Friday, Herbstreit and Davis each shared some of their favorite memories from working alongside Corso and shared their expectations for Saturday’s Ohio State vs. Texas matchup. You can hear more of what each of them had to say in the videos above.
