© Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Lee Corso went out with a bang. On Saturday afternoon, the 90-year-old Corso said goodbye to College GameDay in his final appearance before the Texas-Ohio State game.
“Give me my first love!”
Lee Corso’s first-ever headgear pick belonged to Brutus and the Buckeyes and it’s only fitting that his last one is the same ❤️ pic.twitter.com/A8Fgj8b3TR
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) August 30, 2025
Corso enjoyed being celebrated by fans and ESPN.
“It feels like I was dead and all this just happened,” Corso said. “When a person dies, he’s laid in his gravesite and people say nice things about him. I felt like I was watching, and I was dead, and I was seeing it live. ”
“It was an amazing feeling. You can’t explain it. I wish I could, but I’m numb. It was overwhelming.”
According to ESPN PR, Corso’s farewell was the most-watched College GameDay ever, with an average of 3.1 million viewers and a peak of 5 million viewers during the final headgear pick.
Thank you to all the fans who tuned in for Lee Corso’s final @CollegeGameDay show!
🏈 3.5M viewers (ESPN/ESPNU)
🏈 Most-watched episode EVER
🏈 5.1M viewers – highest reg. season quarter hour avg. peak EVERPer Nielsen Fast Nationals
Final Big Data + Panel viewership available… pic.twitter.com/0xilp0Ij7q— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) August 31, 2025