Lee Corso absent from ESPN College GameDay during Week 6 show at Cal

ESPN’s Lee Corso was absent from Saturday’s edition of College GameDay live from the campus of California.

Host Rece Davis revealed Corso was under the weather and would be back soon. It was a shame considering it was the first time Corso could’ve been at Cal with the pregame show.

The Golden Bears play Miami Saturday night to cap off their first time hosting College GameDay.

Now in his 38th season with College GameDay, every show with Corso is seemingly a treat. It’s unknown when he’ll eventually step away, but he’s still a mainstay of the show.

He previously picked his final four teams in this year’s inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff: Georgia, Ohio State, Texas and Notre Dame with the Bulldogs and Longhorns advancing to the national title game. He ultimately decided that Texas will win this year’s national championship.

Corso also predicted that there will be no undefeated teams during the 2024 season, stating that there will be more balance across the board. This is a bold prediction, as the College Football Playoff winner has been undefeated in five of the last six years, including 15-0 seasons from Georgia in 2022 and Michigan in 2023.

No three-loss teams will make the playoff, according to Corso.

For Corso, he celebrated his 89th birthday in August Health issues kept his appearances on College GameDay to a minimum last season, so it was a great sign that was on hand for Week 1 of the 2024 college football season.

Back in May, Corso was in “great spirits” ahead of another college football season, per ESPN’s Rece Davis. “Be our 29th season together this fall on ⁦⁦(College GameDay).⁩ So thankful for the on air lessons-the unbelievable memories-but especially you pouring into my heart as a friend!”

Corso has been working on the crew for College GameDay since 1987 and over the years became one of the iconic figures in the sport for college football fans. It was in 1993 that the program began traveling around the country from location to location. Then, in 1996, he began his tradition of wearing the mascot headgear for his picks of the week.

Prior to becoming an analyst for ESPN, Corso was a coach, with stops as the head man at Louisville, Indiana, and Northern Illinois. He was also an assistant at Navy and Maryland once his playing career at Florida State came to an end.