Lee Corso Picks Notre Dame To Make College Football Playoff On GameDay
Lee Corso envisions a desirably high ceiling for Notre Dame this season.
The vibrant ESPN "College GameDay" analyst said on the show's season debut Saturday morning he thinks the Irish will make the College Football Playoff, along with Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma. His title game prediction was the Crimson Tide over the Tigers.
A big reason for his prediction was his apparent affinity for Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book. Asked to name his Heisman Trophy winner on GameDay, Corso chose Book, a third-year starter who tossed 34 touchdowns in 2019.
Corso's final four includes two teams from the ACC, which Notre Dame joined for this year only. Clemson and Notre Dame play each other once, in South Bend on Nov. 7, but would meet again in the ACC title game if they have the two highest conference win percentages. Desmond Howard, Corso's GameDay colleague, said on the show he Notre Dame will beat Clemson in the regular-season game.
The widely held expectation is a second meeting between the two teams will occur. Fourteen of Corso's ESPN colleagues posted their playoff predictions, and two included Notre Dame. One of them, Ryan McGee, has Clemson and Notre Dame playing for what would presumably be a third time in the playoff semifinals.
ESPN's bowl projections, compiled by Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura, slotted Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. The highest-ranked non-playoff ACC team earns an Orange Bowl bid.
Notre Dame opens Saturday against Duke, one of 10 ACC games on the schedule.
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