College football fans showed out for Lee Corso’s final appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay” in Week 1.
ESPN announced on Sunday, Aug. 31, that Corso’s final time on the set of “College GameDay” was the show’s most-watched episode ever, with 3.5 million people tuning in from across ESPN and ESPNU. The final quarter-hour of the show peaked at 5.1 million viewers.
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Corso was hired by ESPN in 1987, and has been a key member of “College GameDay” since it debuted live on college campuses in 1993. He finished his career with a 287-144 record in his famous headgear picks, where he dons the mascot headgear of the team he chooses for the game “GameDay” travels to each week.
Corso’s final show was one to remember, as well.
He not only correctly picked Ohio State to beat No. 1 Texas on Saturday, Aug. 30, but also was the only panelist to correctly pick Florida State, his alma mater, to upset No. 8 Alabama. Moreover, each of the six schools Corso coached for in his tenure won on Aug. 30, the same day of his final “GameDay” appearance.
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The 90-year-old has played a huge role in college football for decades, dating back to his time as a coach before becoming a household name as an analyst. Corso served as the head coach at Louisville, Indiana and Northern Illinois, finishing with a 73-85-6 record as a head coach.
REQUIRED READING: Lee Corso’s 7 most memorable ‘College GameDay’ moments, revisited
Corso will be missed by college football fans, who gave quite the farewell in his final “College GameDay” appearance.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lee Corso’s ‘College GameDay’ farewell is most-watched episode, ever
