College GameDay is a really popular show for those serious college football fans and even the casual ones who tune in to see the entertaining banter.
Through the years — and now decades — fans also showed up every Saturday to see Lee Corso work his magic. Corso was always one of college football’s greatest ambassadors, one of its loudest cheerleaders, but on this particular Saturday morning, the 90-year-old was saying goodbye, and not just the goodbye wave that he made famous after his equally famous head gear picks.
This College GameDay was his last, and that means it was also his final head gear pick. This show was in Columbus, site of the titanic Texas-Ohio State season opener, and Corso was on hand to give his final pick. It was the home team, Ohio State, and when Corso donned the Brutus headgear, he waved goodbye, and that was it. The ESPN legend was officially retired.
The episode was special, and college football fans turned out in droves to see it. ESPN reported on Sunday that the show pulled in 3.5 million viewers on ESPN and ESPNU, and that it was the most-watched episode of College GameDay ever, which is saying something considering the high ratings the show has gotten through the years.
Saturday’s show also got 5.1 million viewers at its peak, which was the highest ever for a regular season quarter hour average.
ESPN celebrated the ratings with this post:
There will be many more College GameDay shows in the weeks, months and years to come, but there will surely never be another episode quite like Saturday’s.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
