“We may have extreme chaos and unpredictability“: Insider Josh Pate lets it out over 2025 college football changes

Josh Pate believes the College Football Playoff race for the 2025 season could be unpredictable. With the start of the new season still a few months away, fans have already begun speculating about who will win the national title. In January, the Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 34-23 to win the national championship.

On Thursday’s episode of the “Josh Pate College Football Show,” a fan asked Pate who he thinks will win next season’s title. The college football analyst pointed out that FanDuel lists the Oregon Ducks, Texas Longhorns, Georgia Bulldogs, and Ohio State as the four favorites. However, he said the season could be far more unpredictable than the oddsmakers suggest.

"We've been pointing this out for about a month and a half now. They are certain telltale signs that we may have extreme chaos and unpredictability down the road in the 2025 season," Pate said (5:02 onwards).

Pate believes uncertainty surrounds all four teams, especially since they’ll be without their starting quarterbacks from last season.

"Here's why I think we may be heading down the road of chaos and unpredictability. None of those teams returns a starting quarterback. That's the first thing," he said. (5:51 onwards)

"The second thing is none of those four teams returns over 50% production. Does that mean that they will suck? Of course not. Does that mean that they'll all flame out and go 8-4, 9-3? No, it doesn't."

He added that if Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and Georgia are good but not elite, it opens the door for other programs to make a run at the national championship.

Quarterback changes for Ohio State, Oregon, Texas & Georgia for the 2025 college football season

All four teams will rely on a new quarterback to help lead their programs to a College Football Playoff berth.

Ohio State may turn to Julian Sayin as the starting quarterback, as Will Howard has declared for the 2025 NFL draft. Sayin served as Howard’s backup last season, completing five passes for 84 yards and one touchdown.

At Oregon, coach Dan Lanning is expected to name Dante Moore as Dillon Gabriel's replacement. Moore played in four games last season behind Gabriel, completing seven passes for 49 yards.

Georgia lost its former starting quarterback, Carson Beck, who transferred to the Miami Hurricanes. Gunner Stockton is the likely starter for head coach Kirby Smart in the 2025 season. As a sophomore, Stockton completed 45 passes for 440 yards and one touchdown backing up Beck.

Arch Manning is set to start for Texas as Quinn Ewers enters the NFL draft. The fan favorite has been preparing to take over the starting role, impressing fans as a freshman with 61 completed passes for 939 yards and nine touchdowns.

The Texas fanbase remains optimistic that Manning has the talent to lead the team to the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship Game.