ESPN College GameDay 2012: Predicting Which Hat Lee Corso Will Wear in Week 1

ESPN College GameDay will be broadcasting from Cowboys Stadium before Michigan takes on Alabama, and Lee Corso will end the show by picking a winner, then putting on the headpiece of that school’s mascot.

He may have to get creative considering Michigan does not have an official mascot, and instead only uses the wolverine as a symbol of the school’s athletic programs. 

Corso might be tempted to pick Alabama and throw on Big Al’s elephant head just to keep his tradition going, but Corso is a former head coach and he knows football. He will come to decision based how he truly believes the game will end.

It was an easy choice for GameDay to select this game to open up the college football season, as both teams were ranked in the top-10 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll. 

Michigan is coming off head coach Brady Hoke’s first season in Ann Arbor, and he led the team to an 11-3 record and an overtime victory over Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. Quarterback Denard Robinson is a Heisman Trophy candidate and the No. 8 Wolverines are a serious threat to improve on their record from a season ago. 

The Crimson Tide are the defending national champions and Nick Saban has led Alabama to the top of college football in two of the last three seasons. However, the team lost several defensive players and star running back Trent Richardson to the NFL draft.

Still, Saban has been able to reload in the past and make sure his team remains a national powerhouse. He has been able to do that this season, and the Crimson Tide are ranked second in the nation.

The team has an unbelievably talented offensive line, with D.J. Fluker, Chance Warmack and Barrett Jones ready to win every battle in the trenches. This unit will dominate up front, and that will lead to Corso’s decision.

At the end of the year’s first College GameDay broadcast, Big Al’s head will be on display to the elation of the Crimson Tide’s fans.