It’s official, Lee Corso’s final College Gameday will take place in Week 1 of the 2025 college football season on August 30. While ESPN has yet to decide where the legend will be making his final headgear pick, it certainly won’t be in Happy Valley.
Penn State opens its season on August 30 at Beaver Stadium with a non-conference matchup against Nevada. While the Nittany Lions enter the year with national title expectations, coming off a College Football Playoff Semifinal appearance, a showdown with the Wolf Pack won’t exactly draw the attention of the sport. Instead, Corso and the crew will likely be heading to either Tallahassee for Alabama-Florida State or, more likely, to Columbus for Texas-Ohio State.
One last show 👏
— ESPN (@espn) April 17, 2025
Lee Corso will make his final College GameDay headgear pick on August 30th. pic.twitter.com/MKBuFOtVOw
Lee Corso set to retire after final show in Week 1
Without another chance to don the Nittany Lions’ head, Corso’s record picking Penn State games is set, and lately he’s had plenty of success picking against James Franklin’s team. Franklin has been known to come up small in the season’s biggest games, and unsurprisingly, those losses tend to line up with visits from the Gameday crew.
Corso will retire on a three-game win streak, picking against Penn State. The streak started in Week 8 of 2023 with a loss to Ohio State. Then, in Week 10 of the 2024 season, he did it again as the Buckeyes beat the Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium. His final pick against Penn State came at the Orange Bowl when Franklin’s group stumbled in the fourth quarter against the Fighting Irish with a spot in the National Championship Game on the line.
Lee Corso all-time headgear record in Penn State games
Corso has made a headgear pick for a Penn State game 26 times and will finish his career with a 20-6 record. That record includes his correct Ohio State prediction in Week 7 of the 1996 season, the first time he ever donned a mascot’s headgear.
Across those 26 games, Corso has picked Penn State just seven times and has a 5-2 record when he throws on the Nittany Lion headgear.