ESPN College GameDay picks Ohio State vs. Texas for Lee Corso's final show in Week 1

Lee Corso‘s final appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay will be a return to where it all began for the legendary ESPN icon. On Tuesday, College GameDay announced its 2025 Week 1 show will be televised from Columbus, Ohio ahead of Aug. 30’s highly-anticipated non-conference showdown between host Ohio State and Texas, a potential Top-5 matchup.

Earlier this summer, ESPN announced the 89-year-old Corso will formally sign off after a memorable and remarkable 38 years on ESPN’s College GameDay during the first show of the 2025 college football season. In addition to the show’s traditional pregame format, ESPN notes that it will also present special programming celebrating Corso in the days leading up to his final show. Corso turns 90 in August, making his run all the more impressive.

📍 Week 1: Columbus, OH

We're kicking off College GameDay with a trip to Texas-Ohio State, as we celebrate Lee Corso's final show back where he first made headgear history! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/FtOLmXPXKB

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) June 10, 2025

“My family and I will be forever indebted for the opportunity to be part of ESPN and College GameDay for nearly 40 years,” Corso said in a press release. “I have a treasure of many friends, fond memories and some unusual experiences to take with me into retirement.”

ESPN has already provided some moving tributes to Corso over the years. During the 2023 season, Lee Corso donned his 400th headgear. He has made a weekly tradition of putting on headgear for whatever team he picks to win the marquee game of the day.

Nick Saban shoots down possibility of taking over Lee Corso’s mascot head tradition on ESPN College GameDay

In just one season, Nick Saban has already become a popular fixture on ESPN’s College GameDay pregame show on Saturday mornings. But as beloved GameDay icon Lee Corso prepares for his final show next season, Saban made it clear he’s not interested in replacing Corso — especially when it comes to his tradition of donning mascot heads.

“Lee Corso’s a phenomenal person, he’s a real professional, has been a part of the show and the tradition of the show for 20-something years. And we’re all going to miss him,” Saban said during an appearance on The Rick Burgess Show during May’s Region’s Tradition Pro-Am from Birmingham, Ala. “I think it was a decision to do that, he’s going to be on one more show with us, which we all look forward to. But just a great guy and great for the game of college football and has been great for a lot of fans for a lot of years. I think the tradition of putting that mascot helmet on at the end of every show is something that everybody looked forward to.”

Just don’t expect the former Alabama coach to adopt that tradition any time soon. Unless, of course, ESPN forces the issue.

“Well, I hope not,” Saban said in response to Burgess asking if that’ll be his “job” moving forward, adding he doesn’t see Saban fitting into that particular role on the show. “I don’t either. But it’s probably not my decision.”

— On3’s Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this report.