Lee Corso bid farewell to “College GameDay” in style on Saturday, Aug. 30 — and not just because he was wearing a tuxedo for the occasion.
The legendary ESPN college football analyst nailed his final headgear prediction, going with No. 2 Ohio State over No. 1 Texas. He also was the only “GameDay” panelist to correctly pick Florida State, his alma mater, over No. 8 Alabama, a game in which the Seminoles were a two-touchdown underdog.
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Corso, 90, wasn’t the only one who had himself a day on his last appearance on the show he helped make must-watch TV: The schools where he once coached did pretty well for themselves, too.
Each of the six schools where he spent time over the course of his 26-year college coaching career — Florida State, Maryland, Navy, Louisville, Indiana and Northern Illinois — won their Week 1 games.
While the Seminoles’ 31-17 victory against the Crimson Tide was the most improbable of the bunch, many of the wins were impressive in their own ways. Maryland, Navy and Louisville each won by at least 30 points, with the Midshipmen and Cardinals both scoring more than 50 points in wins against VMI and Eastern Kentucky, respectively.
Corso went 73-85-6 in 15 seasons as an FBS head coach at Louisville, Indiana and Northern Illinois. He rebuilt the Cardinals’ program, going 28-11-3 in four seasons and guiding them to their first-ever bowl appearance. He had less success with the Hoosiers, with a 41-68-2 mark in 10 seasons, but helped them to the first bowl victory in program history in 1979.
He went 4-6-1 in his lone season with the Huskies before leaving for an opportunity to coach the Orlando Renegades of the United States Football League.