Josh Pate Makes Big Announcement on Week 1 Game Pick for 2024 College Football Season

Every season, Josh Pate, host of "Late Kick," reveals his annual college football tour. On Sunday night’s episode, he made his long-awaited announcement regarding the first game he'll attend during the 2024 season.

It seems Pate will be taking off Week 0—or at least will not be attending a game. This isn’t too surprising, considering the only notable game next weekend is between ACC opponents Florida State and Georgia Tech, taking place in Dublin, Ireland.

Week 1 of the college football season is loaded, with games spaced out over five days through the Labor Day weekend. This left the analyst with plenty of options, including Clemson facing Georgia, Notre Dame at Texas A&M, Penn State at West Virginia, and USC taking on LSU, just to name a few. Pate's decision, the kickoff to what he named the "Whole New Saturday Tour," is the 3:30 p.m. matchup between the ACC's Miami (FL) Hurricanes and the SEC's Florida Gators.

"I think it's going to be an incredible environment," Pate said. "I think you'll have a lot of toxic conversation going around the game. ... What a war up front this game is going to be. It could be really nasty. I don't think it's going to be ultra-high scoring."

Pate also noted that the two quarterbacks in the game—Florida's second-year starter and transfer from Wisconsin, Graham Mertz, and Miami's Cam Ward, who transferred from Washington State this season—are among the reasons to watch. Miami comes to Gainesville as the No. 19 team in the country, facing an unranked Florida team.

The two in-state rivals have been playing each other since 1938, with the Hurricanes leading the series 29-27. The last time these two teams met was in 2019 at a neutral site game in Orlando, where the Gators walked away with a 24-20 victory. Despite the rivalry's long history, the teams have faced each other just four times in the past two decades, with one of those being a bowl game.

This will be just the first of many games for Pate, but they'll be decided week to week. He explained how he makes his choice of games each week.

"We want to see competitive games. I want to see as many teams as I can, while also putting ourselves in one of the best environments at the biggest games every week. That's what we look for," Pate said.

Pate acknowledged that there are biases in his decisions each week, including choosing games that feature better teams and fanbases. He also mentioned that if he hasn't been to a particular place—naming Oklahoma as one such location—he might favor a game there if the right opportunity presents itself.