Lee Corso Previews 2018 College Football Season

Fan favorite and former coach Lee Corso is returning for the 31st season of College GameDay on ESPN. The 83-year-old analyst shares his thoughts as he previews the upcoming college football season.

SEC: More Than Alabama

The SEC is often associated with a dominant Alabama team at the top. Corso suggests that it will come down to Alabama and Georgia in the division championship.

“I think Alabama will probably play Georgia in the SEC title game and I kind of like leaning towards Georgia and the reason is last year they lost a heartbreaker to Alabama,” Corso said. “I think playing in the Georgia Dome, I think I give Georgia a slight advantage over them.”

New Coaching Hires

The 2018 college football season will feature some new faces in new places. Starting with the team close to home, Florida is now being led by former Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen. Corso said Mullen is a terrific hire for the Gators. Mullen led Mississippi State to seven bowl games in nine seasons.

Back in December, Jimbo Fisher accepted the head coach job at Texas A&M after resigning from Florida State. Fisher and the Aggies are currently dealing with potential NCAA violations.

On the other side of things, Willie Taggart replaced Fisher at Florida State. Corso said the key move for Taggart so far has been bringing back Bowden and returning traditions. He felt Fisher didn’t acknowledge those traditions throughout his time with the university.

Teams Flying Under the Radar

• Wisconsin: Corso said the Badgers have a good team. After going undefeated until the Ohio State loss in the finals, he said Wisconsin will bring another talented team to the table this season.

• Texas: Corso likes Texas a lot, noting that they are third in the nation in recruiting. He thinks the Longhorns could beat Oklahoma, adding they are one of the only teams that can catch Alabama.
• UCF: The Knights may have dubbed themselves national champions, but Corso thinks last season was the perfect storm. Beating teams like Alabama and Georgia in the finals would be a challenge, and he doesn’t think they will remain perfect this season.

College GameDay

As for his College GameDay experience, Corso said he has a lot of pride in what he does every day.

“It’s like stealing. I get up in the morning on Thursday and I fly first class to the game. I stay in a first class hotel, I eat first class meals and I talk football for about an hour and I fly back first class and I see a great game and they pay me,” Corso said. “That’s stealing. That’s not a job, that’s a privilege.”

College GameDay will kick off the season on Sept. 1 in South Bend, Indiana, as Notre Dame hosts Michigan.