© Austin Hough / South Bend Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK
On Saturday, Lee Corso will make his final appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay.” The 90-year-old icon has been on the show since its debut in 1987 and has appeared on more than 500 episodes.
In 1996, Corso began a new tradition when he donned the headgear of Brutus the Buckeyes, correctly picking the Ohio State to beat the Penn State Nittany Lions. That tradition continues today, with Corso having made a whopping 430 predictions in that time.
Lev Akabas of Sportico recently went on a deep dive into the numbers behind Corso’s famed headgear picks, and what they revealed is the stuff of legends.
Lee Corso Is Incredibly Accurate With His Headgear Picks
While Corso is often considered the comedic relief of “College GameDay,” make no mistake, the man knows his college football. Over his 430 headgear picks, Corso has an astonishing 286-144 overall record. That’s a 66.5 percent win percentage.
🚨 Lee Corso Data Viz 🚨
As the @CollegeGameDay host approaches his final mascot pick, @Sportico went back through all 430, dating back to Oct. 1996.
He’s 286-144 (66.5%) through the years. A quick thread 🧵 pic.twitter.com/vGy2onI60b
— Eben Novy-Williams (@novy_williams) August 28, 2025
That number becomes even more impressive when you apply context. “College GameDay” is often at one of the biggest games of the college football weekend slate, which typically featured hotly contested games.
And it’s not like Corso is just going with the easy picks. Yes, his highest win percentage comes when picking the home team. He’s 144-57 in that situation with a 72 percent win percentage. But he’s also 82-43 when picking the away team, for a 66 percent win percentage, and he’s 60-44 in neutral-site games, good enough for a 58 percent win percentage.
He’s Only Finished Below .500 Three Times!
College football programs would KILL to have Corso’s consistency. In 29 seasons, Corso has only finished with a below-.500 headgear thrice! He went just 5-6 in 2001, 4-9 in 2002, and then 6-12 in a rough 2015 season.
Finally, Corso’s year-by-year-breakdown.
Lee struggled in the 2015-2018 range, but has come roaring back…
📈: @LevAkabas, @Sportico pic.twitter.com/J8hwriTKBB
— Eben Novy-Williams (@novy_williams) August 28, 2025
While he went 4-0 in 1996, which sparked the popularity of the segment, it really took off when Corso went an astonishing 11-0 in 1999.
Astonishingly, the USC Trojans are 17-0 when Corso dons the Trojan armor and sword. He’s picked no team more times than Ohio State, going 31-14 in the 45 games he’s predicted the Buckeyes to win.
Conversely, Corse picked against Penn State 19 times, going 15-4 in the process.
On the opposite side of that coin, no school has been picked against more than Oklahoma. Corso picked against the Sooners a whopping 22 times in 29 years, and he’s just 6-16 when doing so.
What Happens To Lee Corso’s Headgear Tradition Going Forward
“College GameDay” hasn’t clarified if it will continue to do headgear picks after Corso steps away. But longtime host Rece Davis has made his feelings clear.
“I think I’m going to have to tackle anybody that tries to do a headgear pick, other than Lee Corso,” Davis told CNN’s Kaitlin Collins. “That, to me, is his signature moment and it should stay with him, in my judgment.
“And I will fight very hard not to be overruled or vetoed on that. Because many people tell me that it’s something that they look forward to every week. And I think that is his and his alone.”
It’s hard to imagine the show going against Davis’s wish. And fans would likely have no problem retiring the tradition alongside Corso.
But while they were around, Lee Corso’s headgear picks were truly the stuff of legends.