Everybody's Got One: Josh Pate Unveils His Playoff Bracket

On Thursday night Late Kick host Josh Pate opened his show with jubilation. "I don't know how you sit still-- How do you sit still right now? It's here. We don't have to talk anymore. We actually get to watch the games get played."

In an 81-minute live broadcast Pate outlined his conference and playoff predictions for 2024 from his CBS studio in Nashville, Tennessee.

Pate has hosted his college football show on 247/CBS Sports since 2020, and the YouTube Channel has grown to 268,000 subscribers.

"I hate predictions," he said, "But we're making them tonight."

He has the Ducks as the 5-seed, playing the G5 representative Memphis at Autzen Stadium in the first round. He sees the Ducks advancing easily to the quarterfinals, a matchup with the 4-seed, the winner of the Big 12, Oklahoma State.

"I would take Ohio State over Georgia. I would take Oregon over Oklahoma State." Pate's other hypothetical semi-final matches Alabama and Texas. "Ohio State-Georgia is a main event/national title game in the quarterfinal," Pate said.

If the bracket turns out the way the Late Kick host thinks it will, college football's semi-final will be a rematch of the Big Ten Championship on one side, a rematch of the SEC title game on the other.

The championship game turns out to be the same one Pate predicted a month ago, Ohio State versus Texas. Which would mean the Buckeyes will have beaten the Ducks three times in 2024 on their way to a national championship in the first season of the 12-team playoff.

That outcome would inspire a whole new series of columns about Dan Lanning's signature win and coaching ability in big games, but it's by no means guaranteed. Either way, one thing is clear: Winning a national title now requires beating some very good teams under pressure, three weeks in a row.