Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

ESPN's Lee Corso's pick of the Tennessee Vols over Alabama Crimson Tide in 2022 turned out to be his boldest and wisest headgear selection of his career

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Craig Smith | Last updated Aug 28, 2025 4:01 PM ET

Lee Corso has been a fixture on the popular ESPN pregame college football show College Gameday for a very long time. Since the show's inception in the early 1990's, to be clearer.

Over that time, as the show turned from a studio show into an on-side spectacle and staple of American Saturday football watching routine for millions of fans, Corso became known for making his pick of whatever game the show is attending by putting on the headgear of the mascot of the team he thinks is going to win. He had plenty of hits and misses over the years, but the pageantry of it all made him a TV icon because of it.

And the Tennessee Vols proved to be one of his best picks ever.

ESPN College Gameday was in attendance for the now legendary contest between the Volunteers and Crimson Tide in Knoxville on October 15, 2022, with Peyton Manning on the set as the guest picker. Despite Alabama having won 15 straight games in the series, Corso donned the Smokey headgear and picked Tennessee, who went on to break the streak with a 52-49 win as time expired.

That pick was particularly memorable, because it is tied for the biggest underdog headgear pick that hit in his over 30 years making picks on the show, according to ESPN.com.

Via A To Z Sports

While it was tied with Texas-Nebraska from 1999, it's hard to argue against the pick and the resulting upset being bigger for the Big Orange against Alabama. With the stakes high with both teams being undefeated in late October, Nick Saban being on the sideline, and Tennessee having not won the game in a decade and a half, it was far too easy for anyone to decide to go with Alabama.

But Corso was right, and it was the start of a day that would turn out to be one of the most memorable in Tennessee football history, as the fans dumped onto the field beneath fireworks and reveled beneath a cloud of smoke billowing from thousands of cigars puffed on by fans who had been desperately waiting to savor the flavor.

Corso will make his final headgear pick this Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, where the #3 Ohio State Buckeyes take on the #1 Texas Longhorns at noon on FOX.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: