Since 1987, College GameDay has been a preview show which airs every Saturday morning of the college football season; some may say it has become a tradition, and nobody can argue that.
However, the show changed this year in a big way. The heart and soul of the show, Lee Corso, retired. He has been there since the start and made the show what it is today.
Unpredictability, high energy, comical, family and fantastic headgear picks are what Corso stood for. He made the audience feel like they were a part of the show; everybody was on their toes waiting to see what headgear he would put on each week.
It had to come to an end eventually, but fans were sad to see it happen the way it did. Corso had many health struggles in his last four years of his time on the show. He was not able to travel far for games, he had to miss games and he was no longer his sharp self.
Due to this, he did what was best for his health and retired. His Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame ceremony will be held Dec. 16, 2025, and the broadcasting career of Corso will be missed but never forgotten.
Now, the show is noticeably different without Corso. Obviously he is not on the screen, but there is also a different energy, which comes from Pat McAfee.
McAfee has taken the show by storm. He has amazing crowd engagement and makes everybody feel a part of the show, just as Corso did; McAfee just has a different way of doing it.
Starting team chants, taking his shirt off and saying crazy things to rile up the fans are just a few examples of what he does. The College GameDay culture seems to be accepting McAfee as their energetic personality this year.
There was a lot of controversy when McAfee joined the show last year. The older generations didn’t like his style, but now, it appears they have caught on to his humor and have joined the McAfee train.
He has taken on this role so well because of his love for the game and entertaining people. One of the biggest parts of the show now is the field goal kick, where a fan is randomly selected through a raffle.
The fan has to kick a 33-yard field goal for a large cash prize. The cash prize is funded by McAfee, and a large portion of it is always donated to a charity. This shows the type of caring man McAfee is.
Nobody knew how the show would be once Corso left. He was the original guy, the anchor of the show and the reason everybody watched, but it is safe to say the show has found its new Lee Corso.
There is no doubt all of the college football fans will miss Corso for years to come, but the torch has been passed down. The new generation of college football fans will see McAfee, just as the old generation saw Lee Corso.