Josh Pate picks a clear favorite for Ohio State-Notre Dame national championship game

The Ohio State Buckeyes are headed to the national championship game after defeating the Texas Longhorns 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl. This is the first time the Buckeyes have appeared in a National Championship Game since the 2020 season when they lost 52-24 against Alabama. They last won a national championship in 2014 with a 42-20 win over the Oregon Ducks.

On Thursday, analyst Josh Pate appeared on "HQ Spotlight" on CBS Sports to talk about the upcoming national championship game between the Buckeyes and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He was asked who he was picking to win the game, and he did not hesitate to pick the Buckeyes (starts at 10:00).

"I'm not going to try to try and throw a dart all the way across the room and hit a bullseye here. I'm going Ohio State to win," said Pate. "Ohio State to cover. Amanda this game feels like 20-9 or 23-13 or something like that where it's not a blowout, its competitive."

"Ohio State doesn't run it up, but defensively they're just so suffocating that they probably don't need to score a ton. So, I got Ohio State winning and covering."

Josh Pate is not alone in his opinion that Ohio State will win the national championship

Josh Pate picked the Buckeyes to win the national championship, but it was not a bold pick. Most media members and fans appear to agree that the Buckeyes are the favorites to win the game. That opinion is reflected in the betting odds.

DraftKings has the Buckeyes as a -355 favorite to win the game and the Fighting Irish as +280 underdogs. The spread is set at 8.5 points, which is only a little under the scores Josh Pate predicted.

The Buckeyes are such a big favorite to win the game because of their dominance throughout the playoffs. After losing to Michigan 13-10 in the regular season finale, the Buckeyes have been nothing but dominant. Every game they have played has been won by at least 14 points.

They defeated Tennessee 42-17 in the first round before blowing out the number one-seeded Oregon Ducks 41-21 in the quarterfinals. Then they beat Texas 29-14 in the semifinals.

Conversely, while Notre Dame dominated its first two opponents in the CFP, it narrowly defeated Penn State 27-24 in its semifinal matchup. As a result, most pundits agree that the Buckeyes are favorites to win the title.