Some Sensational Sports Sevens from a native Alabamian who has been obsessing over these things for 50 years. With ESPN’s College GameDay coming to Tuscaloosa Saturday for the Alabama-Tennessee basketball game, it’s a perfect time to reflect on some of the top moments in the history of the show, which is still known more for its presence during football season. Once you’ve finished reading and think of something I missed, let me know at [email protected]. Your input may be included in a future Sensational Sports Seven.
7. Katy Perry, the greatest guest picker: The pop star turned American Idol fixture didn’t know anything about college football, but she understood the assignment when she was tabbed as the guest picker at Ole Miss for the Rebels’ 2014 game against Alabama. First, she picked Auburn to beat LSU with a reference to the urban legend that LSU fans smell like corndogs. Then she picked Oklahoma to beat TCU while fawning over Trevor Knight and telling the Oklahoma quarterback to call her. Then, when Lee Corso picked Alabama to beat Ole Miss, she grabbed the Big Al head off of Lee Corso’s head and threw it to the ground.
6. Corso headgear picks begin: Corso has made more than 400 headgear picks. The first was in 1996 when he donned the head of Brutus the Buckeye to pick Ohio State to beat Penn State. His pick was correct that day, and he’s gone on to be correct more than 67 percent of the time. He has worn 68 unique headgears, with Ohio State (38 times) and Alabama (36) leading the way.
5. Corso rides into Autzen Stadium: In one of the greatest entrances since Macho Man Randy Savage at WrestleMania VIII, Corso arrived inside the stadium at Oregon wearing the Duck mascot head while on the back of a motorcycle driven by the mascot.
4. Barkley being Barkley: In 2017, GameDay was in Auburn for the Iron Bowl. The always quotable Charles Barkley was on set to utter one of his most memorable lines: “2013 was the Kick Six. Today is gonna be the Kick Ass.” Here was right. No. 6 Auburn did knock off top-ranked Alabama 26-14 that day.
3. GameDay visits Virginia Tech after tragedy: The show is known for its humor and football analysis. But sometimes it has been more. That was true when the show was on campus at Virginia Tech for the first game after a deadly campus shooting. Corso punctuated the day by saying, “I don’t know what a Hockie is but God is one.”