Lee Corso picks Ohio State over Texas in final 'College GameDay' appearance

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Just as it was the first time, Lee Corso's final headgear pick was Brutus Buckeye.

Corso selected the third-ranked Buckeyes to beat top-ranked Texas on his final appearance on ESPN's “College GameDay” on Saturday.

“This is one of the easiest picks I've ever made. Texas is loaded. Texas is number one. They have a Manning at quarterback. Poor, Ohio State. They ain't got a chance. Give me my first love!” Corso said before putting on Brutus' head for the 46th time.

It ended up being prophetic as the Buckeyes defeated the Longhorns 14-7.

Corso made the prediction on the 50-yard line at Ohio Stadium in front of 107,524 fans 16 minutes before kickoff, quite a change from the first time in 1996 when it was done in the parking lot outside the Horseshoe.

The Ohio State band — which spelled out Corso during its pregame routine — was on the field and behind Corso as he made his pick.

It was GameDay’s 26th appearance in Columbus. It was outside the Horseshoe on Oct. 5, 1996, where Corso’s popular headgear prediction segment began.

Corso donned Brutus Buckeye’s head before Ohio State faced Penn State, and the rest is history.

Ohio State went 32-14 when Corso picked the Buckeyes.

Coach Ryan Day gave Corso an Ohio State helmet with a buckeye leaf on it for each time he chose the Buckeyes. Day also gave Corso an additional sticker to put on in case he picked the Buckeyes.

A local restaurant also made an 85-pound cake of Brutus' head.

“To everyone who has been a part of the journey, thank you,” Corso said during the opening segment of Saturday’s show.

Corso, who turned 90 on Aug. 7, has been a part of “GameDay” since its start in 1987 and has made pregame shows entertaining under a simple philosophy: “Football is just the vehicle. It’s entertainment, sweetheart.”

The three-hour show was a celebration of Corso more than a finale. Besides looking back at Corso's career, the show analyzed Saturday's key games and included an interview with Bill Belichick, who makes his debut with North Carolina on Monday night against TCU.

“It’s a celebratory thing, but you also get wistful,” said Chris Fowler, who was the host of “GameDay” from 1990 through 2014 and did a segment with Herbstreit and Corso during the second hour of the show. “I wanted him to look around and take in this scene and not take it for granted and enjoy what’s going to happen in the next couple of hours because he largely created this. Without him, I don’t think ‘GameDay’ ever gets on the road and gets off the ground and becomes this. I hope he can appreciate that.”

Corso wore a tuxedo for his final show. He got to St. John Arena two hours before the show started at 9 a.m. and relaxed with family and the “GameDay” crew. Corso made his way on set 20 minutes before it began. He took 5 minutes to relax near the back of the stage and chatted with stage manager Mike Ruhlman before joining Kirk Herbstreit, Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban at the desk for the show's first segment.

Corso has worn 69 different schools’ mascot headgear and has dressed up as Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish leprechaun, the Stanford tree, and historic figures James Madison and Benjamin Franklin. However, Brutus remains Corso’s first love, wearing it 45 times.

Corso has a near 67% winning rate on his headgear predictions (287-144), which is much better than his 73-85-6 mark in 15 years as a coach at Louisville, Indiana, and Northern Illinois.

However, Corso wasn't the only one to put on a mascot's head. The “GameDay” crew had on giant heads of Corso during a segment on the set across the street from Ohio Stadium before the show moved inside for the final hour.

After “GameDay” wrapped up, Corso watched most of the game from the press box.

Besides ESPN, Fox Sports showed Corso's pick. Fox's Tom Rinaldi and Chris “The Bear” Fallica — who worked for ESPN and were part of “GameDay” — gave their tributes to Corso during the “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show.

“People don't really understand, if it doesn't take off maybe there is no ‘Inside the NBA’ or ‘Big Noon Kickoff’," Fallica said after visiting the ESPN set.

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ESPN's Lee Corso, right, reacts as his colleagues don Corso heads during ESPN's "College GameDay," before the NCAA college football game between Ohio State and Texas, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jospeh Reedy)

Lee Corso, left, and stage manager Mike Ruhlman wait on the set of ESPN's "College GameDay," before the NCAA college football game between Ohio State and Texas, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jospeh Reedy)

Lee Corso, right, and Kirk Herbstreit work on the set of ESPN's "College GameDay," before the NCAA college football game between Ohio State and Texas, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio (AP Photo/Jospeh Reedy)

Chris Fowler, left, Lee Corso, center, and Kirk Herbstreit work on the set of ESPN's "College GameDay," before the NCAA college football game between Ohio State and Texas, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio (AP Photo/Jospeh Reedy)

Lee Corso, right, and Kirk Herbstreit work on the set of ESPN's "College GameDay," before the NCAA college football game between Ohio State and Texas, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio (AP Photo/Jospeh Reedy)

FILE - Kirk Herbstreit, left, greets Lee Corso on stage at the ESPY Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Brazilian Supreme Court Justice on Thursday ordered the transfer of former President Jair Bolsonaro from the federal police headquarters in Brasilia to a much bigger cell with an outside area in the Papuda Penitentiary Complex, also in the capital.

The transfer was described as a move to a facility with “more favorable conditions” for high-profile detainees.

Since November, Bolsonaro has been carrying out a 27-year prison sentence for attempting a coup despite his 2022 electoral defeat. His lawyers have been pushing for a transfer to house arrest on medical grounds.

Michelle Bolsonaro, his wife, and his sons have regularly said that Bolsonaro is being mistreated and not getting adequate medical attention.

In the court decision, Justice Alexandre de Moraes denied the accusations. “Regrettably and falsely, there has been a systematic attempt to delegitimize the regular and lawful execution of the custodial sentence of Jair Messias Bolsonaro, which has been carried out with full respect for human dignity."

Bolsonaro had been in a 12-square-meter room with a bed, a private bathroom, air conditioning, a TV set and a desk, and Moraes ordered Bolsonaro's transfer to an even more comfortable situation. He determined that Bolsonaro be transferred to a 54-square-meter room with a 10-square-meter outside area that he can access at will.

Following the transfer, Bolsonaro will also have increased time for family visits and physiotherapy equipment such as a treadmill and bicycle will be installed. The new area resembles an apartment, with a double bed, a kitchen, a laundry, a living room and an outdoor area.

The Supreme Court’s press office said the transfer had already happened.

Since starting his sentence, Bolsonaro has made several trips to a nearby hospital, most recently after falling out of bed and hitting his head.

Moraes decided that Bolsonaro can have “full assistance, 24 (twenty-four) hours a day, from previously registered private doctors, without the need for prior notification.”

Moraes also ordered a medical examination to assess Bolsonaro's health and determine whether he needs to be transferred to a penitentiary hospital.

Bolsonaro has been hospitalized multiple times since being stabbed at a campaign event before the 2018 presidential election.

The former president and several of his allies were convicted by a panel of Supreme Court justices for attempting to overthrow Brazil’s democracy following his 2022 election defeat.

The plot included plans to kill President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Justice de Moraes. The plan also involved encouraging an insurrection in early 2023.

The former president was also found guilty of charges including leading an armed criminal organization and attempting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law.

Bolsonaro has always denied wrongdoing.

In Thursday’s court order, Moraes said that Bolsonaro was convicted of extremely serious crimes and that his custodial sentence was not a “hotel stay or a vacation colony” as statements from Bolsonaro’s sons’ cited in the decision “mistakenly seem to demand.”

FILE - Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro stands at the entrance of his home while he is under house arrest in Brasilia, Brazil, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Nova, File)