Getty Longtime NFL analyst and expert Lee Corso was back on ESPN's "College GameDay" on October 19 and made a bold prediction.
College football analyst and expert Lee Corso was back on ESPN’s “College GameDay” broadcast on Saturday, October 19, live from Austin, Texas.
Corso was gone the previous two weeks because of being sick. It didn’t take him long to jump right back in and make a bold prediction about where this college football season is heading.
Lee Corso Gets Warm Welcome, Makes Big College Football Forecast
When Saturday’s “College GameDay” started, Lee Corso was seated in his usual spot next to Kirk Herbstreit.
Rece Davis of “College GameDay” started the broadcast by introducing Corso, who is 89, and his big return, saying, “And after two weeks, the return of the great Lee Corso.”
“Coach, these people love you,” Pat McAfee added. “And that’s for good reason. You’re an absolute legend.”
Later, came the prediction. During the program, Corso whispered something significant to Herbstreit.
Herbstreit told the camera that Corso said, “Texas all the way, national champs.” Herbstreit added, “That was your preseason pick. He picked them in the preseason… He’s got Texas winning the national championship.”
This isn’t really too wild of a guess, since Texas is No. 1 in the Associated Press poll as of October 19 and the team heads into their matchup against Georgia 6-0 overall. But, it’s far from a done deal, so it’s interesting to see Corso so certain that Texas will go all the way. He even put on Texas headgear to make his point.
Ahead of Saturday, fans were already anticipating Corso’s return, since ESPN teased it in a release.
“Host Rece Davis, at the helm for his 10th season, is joined at the desk by GameDay analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban,” ESPN said in an October 17 statement. “College football insider Pete Thamel, college football betting analyst ‘Stanford Steve’ Coughlin and reporters Jen Lada and Jess Sims round out the GameDay cast.”
The love for Corso continued on other ESPN programs on Saturday, too. He was on “SportsCenter” before “College GameDay” and got a warm welcome.
“It’s been a long two weeks without you, so we’re glad you’re home,” Herbstreit said.
Corso has been a broadcaster on “College GameDay” since 1987.
ESPN’s “College GameDay” broadcasts every Saturday morning during the college football season from 9 a.m. to noon Eastern time on ESPN and ESPNU.
Nick Saban Dishes on Alabama’s Biggest Rival
Also during the program, Nick Saban talked famous football rivalries. The former Alabama coach explained that while many think the rivalry between Alabama and Auburn is the biggest, Tennessee is actually the team Alabama calls their major rival.
“Third Saturday in October is like a holiday in those two states, and the cigar tradition of winning this game afterwards is a fun thing,” Saban said. “But for our players (at Alabama), this was a bigger rivalry than any other game that we played. I’m talking about (a) rivalry game even bigger than Auburn to our players.”
He added, “It was always difficult for me to get our players up for the Auburn game. It was never difficult for the Tennessee game.”
Nick Saban said Tennessee was always Alabama’s biggest rival. Sometimes he had trouble getting them up to play Auburn. That was never an issue for the Tennessee games.
Anne Erickson Anne Erickson is an award-winning reporter covering the NFL and college football for Heavy.com. Erickson has years of experience covering the NFL and additional sports, and her work has been published via ESPN, Fox Sports and more. She has interviewed some of the biggest names in sports, including Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Erickson also hosts several podcasts and is a Detroit-based radio host. More about Anne Erickson