ESPN has announced that the season debut of College GameDay will broadcast live from the site of the Texas Longhorns taking on the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, OH on August 30. Significantly, this will mark the final time that analyst Lee Corso will be joining the program after announcing he will be stepping away from the show this past April.
The location is particularly meaningful for Corso, and he wraps up a nearly 40-year career with ESPN in the same location where he made choosing the headgear of the team he’s selecting a College GameDay a weekly staple.
Furthermore, the three-hour program will be live from outside St. John Arena on Ohio State’s campus to start GameDay‘s 39th season.
Corso, who turns 90 in August, has been a fixture on College GameDay since its debut in 1987. Although he became a full-time analyst in 1989, he contributed from the show’s start and remains the only original member still on air. In recognition of his contributions, ESPN plans to honor and celebrate Corso’s career throughout the program in addition to the GameDay crew previewing the 2025 season.
Moreover, the plans for the season-opening episode include the show being located in its traditional spot on Ohio State’s campus before finishing the show inside ‘The Shoe’ where Corso will make his final headgear pick in front of a sold out crowd ahead of the Buckeyes’ noon kick.
Notably, Corso has picked Ohio State by donning Brutus Buckeye’s head a record 45 times of the 430 headgear picks he’s made in his career.
Additionally, the visit to Ohio State marks the 26th time the Buckeyes will host College GameDay, extending their own record for the most by any program, and will be the first time since 2014 that the reigning National Champions will be featured on the first GameDay road show of the season.
Impressively, Ohio State has a 45-21 record when appearing on the pregame show and is 19-6 when hosting College GameDay.
Meanwhile, College GameDay is coming off an historic season as the 2024 year delivered its most-watched regular season ever, averaging 2.2 million viewers, and was recognized with its 10th Sports Emmy for best weekly studio show.
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