When Lee Corso and College Gameday would show up to a Florida Football game and Corso would put on the Gator headgear, normally good things happened. According to Cole's Gameday Blog, Florida was 15-7 all-time in games where Corso wore the Gator headgear. For what it is worth, the Gators were also 7-6 in games where he picked the opposing headgear.
It was announced today that Corso will be stepping down from College Gameday after its Week 1 show on August 30. The location is yet to be determined but it is doubtful it will be in Gainesville to watch Florida take on Long Island.
So with that in mind, here are the five most memorable games Florida won, where Corso had Florida's back and donned the Gator headgear prior to the game.
Florida Football: Last Dance Over Auburn
We probably didn't realize it at the time, but 2019 was the last time Corso has actually put on the headgear for Florida. He actually did it twice in 2019, the first time in the opener against Miami.
But Gameday showed up for the Auburn game, which is a whole different story as to why Florida and Auburn can never seem to be matched up together, and he was joined by Emmitt Smith in picking the Gators.
Florida would go on to win 24-13, sealing the win on an 88-yard
Lamical Perine run.
Florida Over Oklahoma For The National Title
Even though Oklahoma was ranked 1st ahead of the BCS National Title Game, Florida was considered the betting odds favorite, and Corso stuck by those odds and picked the Gators.
As we all remember, Major Wright decapitated a dude and set the tone for Florida to grind out a 24-14 win to claim its third national title.
Florida Pulls Upset Over Ohio State For National Title
Picking Florida over Oklahoma wasn't going out on a limb, but two years prior, picking Florida to beat Ohio State in the national title game was.
The Gators were considered touchdown underdogs to Ohio State, but that didn't stop Corso as he called for the upset.
Sure enough, Florida pounded Ohio State en route to a 41-14 blowout to claim the national title.
Jabar Gaffney Catches The Ball, And Florida Beats Tennessee
Here is all that matters from the clash in 2000 between Florida and Tennessee:
The box score states that Jesse Palmer threw a three-yard touchdown to Jabar Gaffney with 14 seconds left to win the game 27-23.
No need to look up a highlight or to question anything from that play.
And we know that play was correctly called because Corso had picked Florida earlier in the day to knock off Tennessee.
First Time For Everything
Corso started his headgear tradition in 1996 when he famously picked Ohio State, but it wasn't until 1997 he had the chance to pick Florida.
The 1997 clash between Florida and Tennessee was the first time Corso had ever donned the Gator headgear, and Florida rewarded him with a 33-20 win over Peyton Manning and the Volunteers.
That's the same Peyton Manning who never beat Florida for those keeping score at home.