ESPN’s “College GameDay” is heading to Columbus, Ohio for the primary present of the season – and the final of Lee Corso’s profession.
Corso, 90, has been protecting faculty soccer for ESPN since 1987. The first on-site “College GameDay” present occurred in 1993, when No. 2 Notre Dame hosted No. 1 Florida State in South Bend. Three years later, Corso made his first mascot headgear decide, placing a Brutus Buckeye mascot head on to a roaring Ohio State crowd in October of 1996.
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The legendary ESPN faculty soccer analyst has racked up a whole lot of notable statistics over time, throughout his almost 40 years on the school soccer pregame present:
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He’s visited greater than 70 campuses
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He’s picked 69 totally different groups
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Close to 400 complete headgear picks
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 1: Lee Corso of ESPN College GameDay speaks on set earlier than the Rose Bowl between Ohio State Buckeyes and Oregon Ducks at Rose Bowl Stadium on January 1, 2025 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images)Ric Tapia/Getty Images
Corso’s favourite “GameDay” location
While Corso might be in Columbus, Ohio for his ultimate present, his favourite “GameDay” location is definitely out West. The longtime ESPN faculty soccer analyst named Oregon his favourite vacation spot.
“My favorite is Oregon. The Ducks,” mentioned Corso in an interview in 2018. “My favorite mascot is the Duck. He’s really funny. I enjoy being with the Duck when I go out there. The show is on at 6 a.m. pacific in the morning. That means they are there all night. The students are there waiting for the show. They are tremendous fans. They have a great football program. Great atmosphere.”
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Corso added of Autzen Stadium: “That’s my favorite place, for me personally, to see a ballgame.”
The longtime faculty soccer analyst had a number of causes for selecting Oregon over locations like Ohio State or Alabama:
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Oregon’s mascot, the Duck, is his favourite in all of faculty sports activities
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Oregon is on West Coast time, which implies that the present will start at 6 a.m. This implies that the scholars, who replenish the “GameDay” crowd, are sometimes up all night time, ingesting in anticipation.
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Autzen Stadium is his favourite stadium in all of faculty soccer
What’s the worst ‘GameDay’ location?
Longtime ESPN host Rece Davis defined in a Reddit AMA that his least favourite “GameDay” location will not be a campus, however fairly, a neutral-site location.
ESPN’s “College GameDay” will typically head to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game, or Charlotte for the ACC Championship Game. Davis believes that the impartial website “GameDay” places are too useless.
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While impartial website places can typically be good, that is the exception, not the rule.
“I don’t think I have a ‘least’ favorite on campus, but the neutral site shows are often trying. Can be flat. Crowds are typically so-so,” Davis wrote to Reddit customers. “But Charlotte before Georgia-Clemson this year was crazy good. But it was the exception. Every place we go has its own charm. We try to capture and appreciate that.”
Davis has mentioned that his “favorite” vacation spot is Washington State.
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“Aside from Washington State, which was just more than a large crowd, it was the consummation of a 15 year quest, but my favorite memory would be my first one,” Davis mentioned. “Having my family there for it, felt like an important moment in my career. I was already very happy with where my career was and proud of what we’d done, close to the people I worked with. But the power of GameDay and its place in the landscape of college football is huge. Not something to be taken as a step in a career. It’s a moment. “While my job is something I do, not who I am, it is very important to me. My family makes sacrifices for me to do this. So beginning my tenure as host will always be a favorite memory. And my alma mater was in the game. Seemed fitting.”
ESPN’s “College GameDay” will get going at 9 a.m. E.T. this weekend, forward of the sport between No. 1 Texas and No. 3 Ohio State.
This story was initially reported by The Spun on Aug 27, 2025, the place it first appeared within the College Football part. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.