Change is the only constant, they say. That’s very much true when it comes to college football rankings. This time it’s analyst Josh Pate who goes all vocal about his pre-season prediction not going to be correct. As he backtracks his given numbers before the 2024 kickoff, it might be coming off as a surprise for many CFB fans. This time an SEC program has gained Pate’s trust. But this is not something new, as the analyst went big with the program even before the 2024 kickoff

The CFB 247Sports’ well-known face Josh Pate is someone who often drops with his on-point predictions. But this time, he himself took to his podcast to declare how he went all wrong with his pre-season analysis. “So it was in the preseason it was Ohio State, Texas Miami, and Oklahoma…were my conference champs basically.” But that’s not something we need to focus on since in his latest claim Pate dropped his big claim, “I would like to change my number.”

He then comes up with his revised rankings, “Texas wins the SEC and is my number one seed. Ohio State wins the Big 10 they are my number two seed.” He gave his third seed to Miami winning the ACC and fourth seed to Iowa State being the Big 12 champ.  

That’s a piece of big news for the SEC fans, as Pate now backs Steve Sarkisian’s Longhorns replacing Ohio State. But he has enough reasons to pick Texas as the No.1. Sarkisian’s squad being the top overall seed, will enjoy the privilege of choosing their field and would not fly to Florida, rather would play in Dallas. In that case, enjoying the home game privilege going by Pate’s predictions, the Longhorns would beat Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama. It’s surprising that it took the analyst so long to place Sarkisian’s crew in the top seed since they had already wooed him even before the 2024 kickoff.  

Josh Pate started early with his EA Sports ranking

Let’s go back to July, a time when the 2024 kickoff was still away from the limelight being only over the EA Sports College Football 25. Back then Sarkisian’s squad received the fifth-overall rating of 92. This is enough to leave Pate with his feathers ruffled up! And he did not just keep quiet. Instead went far and beyond showering the Longhorns with his good words. 

Pate then deconstructed Sarkisian’s system, “Quarterback Quinn Ewers, who at 92 overall, is a top-five quarterback in the game. But to describe the offense in one word, ‘speed’.” He then continued, “Six wide receivers for Texas have a speed rating of 92 or higher…The Horns have the goods on defense, too…Could this be one of the best in the SEC? Absolutely.”

The Longhorns are 5-0 in back-to-back years for the first time since 1969-1970. While men of experience like Josh Pate dream it big for Texas with the 26th most difficult strength of schedule, will maintaining this streak be easy this time? Let your opinion flow. 

While you think about the answer, you can take a quick look at what the NFL holds this season in the latest episode of the Think Tank podcast.