SALT LAKE CITY - Lee Corso likes what he sees from the Utah football team this season.
The famous ESPN personality called for the Utes to not only make the College Football Playoff but advance to the national title game during the season’s first “College GameDay” television broadcast Saturday morning.
Corso predicted the Utes would earn the No. 3 seed in the playoff, beat defending national champion Clemson in the semifinals, then face top seed Alabama in the national championship.
Corso foresees the Crimson Tide getting past Ohio State in the semifinals, then beating the Utes in this year’s title game, which will be played Jan. 13, 2020 at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
Corso has Alabama over… Utah for the title game pic.twitter.com/TRCkIpInva
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) August 24, 2019
An Alabama-Utah contest would be a rematch of the 2009 Sugar Bowl, when the Utes wrapped up their undefeated 2008 season with a 31-17 win over the Crimson Tide in New Orleans and finished No. 2 in the Associated Press poll.
It’s the latest preseason hype for a Utah football team that is picked to win the Pac-12 in the league’s media poll and enters the year ranked No. 14 in the AP poll, the program’s highest preseason ranking in school history.
Corso was the lone ESPN personality to predict Utah to win the Pac-12 during Saturday’s GameDay broadcast.
I always knew Lee Corso was the smartest guy on College Gameday#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/PxNtBhNgiz
— 🌹🙌 Pac-12 Champion D.O.🙌🌹 (@dtosborn11) August 24, 2019
Desmond Howard called for Oregon to win the Pac-12, while Kirk Herbstreit tabbed Washington the favorite. Guest picker and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin agreed with Herbstreit, picking the Huskies to win the Pac-12.
The Ducks are No. 11 in the AP preseason poll, while Washington is No. 13.