The Clemson football program will have a little bit of added motivation coming into the season-opener following the prediction of popular ESPN College GameDay Host Lee Corso.
For the first time in over a year, Corso was back in front of a live crowd and he pulled the ‘switch-a-roo’ when he framed his pick as if it would be Clemson before throwing out his famous “not so fast, my friend” line and pulling out the Bulldog head to pick Georgia in what he said would be “the year of the dawg.”
Corso has become synonymous with the ‘curse’ over the last few years and Tiger fans actually have booed before when he picked them. Instead, Clemson football fans would prefer him to pick against them because it seems the team has a better record when he goes anti-Clemson.
Lee Corso has actually done better with Clemson football than you might think on the surface, but he hasn’t picked well in big-time games against the Tigers
Corso has been synonymous with this ‘curse’ over the course of, especially, the last decade but if you look at his track record with Clemson over the past few years, he’s actually gotten it right more than we would’ve originally thought.
Here’s a look at every time Clemson football has been featured on ESPN College GameDay since 2016 with the winner and Corso’s headgear pick:
2016:
- Clemson beat Louisville (Corso picked Clemson)
- Clemson beat Ohio State (Corso picked Ohio State)
- Clemson beat Alabama (Corso picked Alabama)
2017:
- Clemson beat Louisville (Corso picked Louisville)
- Clemson beat Virginia Tech (Corso picked Clemson)
- Clemson beat Miami (Corso picked Clemson)
2018:
- Clemson beat Texas A&M (Corso picked Clemson)
- Clemson beat Alabama (Corso picked Clemson)
2019:
- Clemson beat Georgia Tech (Corso picked Clemson)
- Clemson beat Ohio State (Corso picked Ohio State)
- LSU beat Clemson (Corso picked LSU)
2020:
- Clemson beat Wake Forest (Corso picked Clemson)
- Clemson beat Miami (Corso picked Clemson)
- Notre Dame beat Clemson (Corso picked Notre Dame)
- Clemson beat Notre Dame (Corso picked Clemson)
- Ohio State beat Clemson (Corso picked Clemson)
For those playing along, that makes Corso 11-5 in headgear picks for a game featuring Clemson football, but there have been some obvious misses along the way that we all remember.
We remember very well when he picked Louisville to beat the Tigers at home in 2017. We remember when he picked Ohio State to beat Clemson and Alabama to win in the National Championship game back in 2016.
Here’s what we’ll say about Corso’s picks: When he picks against Clemson, he is rarely right.
In picks against the Tigers in the last five seasons during the Game of the Week, Corso is 2-4.
Does this ‘Corso curse’ continue with Georgia tonight? It will be interesting to see.
Outside of Corso’s pick, Desmond Howard picked Clemson and guest-picker Kane Brown picked UGA.