Josh Pate Releases New College Football Playoff Predictions

With the college football season fast approaching, college football analyst Josh Pate has made predictions regarding College Football Playoff selection.

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian leads warm ups prior to the Cotton Bowl Classic College Football Playoff semifinal game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Texas Longhorns at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Jan. 10, 2025. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The college football season hasn’t yet started, but several prominent analysts have speculated which teams will earn places in the 2025 College Football Playoff.

Among these analysts is Josh Pate, who recently released his predicted participants and where he anticipates they will fall within the bracket.

Pate has named the Texas Longhorns as a team that will appear in the postseason, but their No. 1 AP Poll Preseason ranking didn’t translate to his list.

Pate’s playoff predictions 

The Longhorns claimed the No. 3 seed, with the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Alabama Crimson Tide earning the No. 1 and 2 positions, respectively.

With the top four seeds earning first-round byes, the Longhorns would face the winner of the matchup between Pate’s No. 6-ranked Notre Dame team and No. 11-ranked Arizona State team.

The No. 1-ranked Nittany Lions would face the winner of the game between No. 8 Florida and No. 9 Georgia, according to Pate’s bracket. 

Florida sits at 15 in the preseason rankings, so their inclusion in Pate’s postseason predictions is an interesting one. However, if they face Georgia on their home turf, as Pate predicts they will, all bets are off.

“They won’t give me that game on campus for the regular season version,” he said. “Even in years where Jacksonville’s stadium is being renovated they’re playing it at a neutral site. It’s insane. Well I am forcing them to play the Georgia-Florida game in either Athens or Gainesville because I’m going to put them in the first round of the playoff.”

Texas also faces them during the regular season in Gainesville, Florida, which could help determine where each of these teams should fall in terms of playoff qualification. 

Both the SEC and Big 10 are well-represented on Pate’s list, with four teams from each conference making his playoff cut. Penn State, a Big 10 team, took the No. 1 spot.

They have what could be considered a less excruciating path to the playoffs throughout the regular season, which could contribute to Pate ranking them at No. 1

If they win the national championship game, they will become the third Big 10 team in a row to win the title.

However, given how early it is, what will happen between now and the College Football Playoff selection remains unknown.

The Longhorns face several challenging opponents between now and then, including their Week 1 matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes. 

The matchup will take place in Columbus, Ohio, on Aug. 30.