Lee Corso's farewell drives record 'College GameDay' ratings

Field Level Media|published: Tue 2nd September, 12:12 2025

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day presents Lee Corso with a helmet beside Kirk Herbstreit on the set of ESPN College GameDay prior to the NCAA football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Texas Longhorns at Ohio Stadium on Aug. 30, 2025.

Lee Corso's farewell to "College GameDay" was the most-watched episode of the ESPN Saturday morning staple in its nearly 40-year history.

ESPN averaged 3.5 million viewers during the show on Saturday, preliminary Nielsen ratings show. It was broadcast from Columbus, Ohio, before the season opener between No. 1 Texas and No. 3 Ohio State. The Buckeyes won 14-7.

The show also aired on ESPNU.

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 EVER

Per Nielsen Fast Nationals
Final Big Data + Panel viewership available... pic.twitter.com/0xilp0Ij7q
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) August 31, 2025

ESPN reported that the ratings for the final 15 minutes of the show reached a record 5.1 million viewers. That's the section of the show during which Corso famously made his prediction -- who would win the game to be played in the city from which "GameDay" was airing -- by putting on headgear representing his predicted victor.

His final headgear choice was the first as the same one when the tradition began in 1996: the Buckeyes. For the record, it was the 46th time he put on the Ohio State mascot head, and the Buckeyes were 32-14.

Corso, 90, spent 15 seasons as a college head coach at Louisville, Indiana and Northern Illinois before joining "College GameDay" in its first season in 1987.

The show heads to Norman, Okla., ahead of the game between Michigan and Oklahoma, on Saturday for its first episode without Corso as a member of the team.

--Field Level Media