Josh Pate's College Football Show

Episode: CFB’s Most Hated Teams + Perfect Conference Realignment Proposal

Date: March 2, 2026

Episode Overview

In this energetic and highly interactive off-season episode, host Josh Pate tackles several provocative questions dominating the college football conversation: Who are the most hated teams in college football right now? And what would the sport look like if conference realignment was done from scratch with tradition and regionality in mind? Pate delivers sharp insights, fan-sourced anecdotes, and trademark candid analysis. Along the way, he addresses the ongoing “noon kickoff” debate, assesses coaches under the most pressure, and reviews the worst College Football Playoff games ever. The episode closes with a Penn State fanbase “Mood Tracker” and extra inside-baseball observations about college football’s place in the sports media landscape.

Main Segments & Timestamps

• [03:00] Opening Thoughts and Show Preview
• [06:00] The Hat O’Meter: Ranking the Most Hated Teams in CFB (Right Now)
• [32:30] Josh’s Perfect Conference Realignment Proposal
• [44:27] Coaches & Teams in ‘Must-Win Mode’ for 2026
• [53:58] The Noon Kickoff Conundrum
• [63:27] Lessons from a Season at ESPN
• [66:36] The Worst Playoff Games of the Four-Team Era
• [77:28] Mood Tracker: Penn State Survivor’s Adrenaline

Most Hated Teams in College Football (Hat O’Meter) [06:00]

Josh introduces the annual “Hat O’Meter” — a living, breathing, admittedly subjective gut-check of CFB’s most despised teams, ranked 8 to 1. This year’s list is based on social media feedback, fan commentary, and “the winds of college football.” Notably, the metric isn’t purely about on-field dominance: factors like scandals, coaching personalities, and fan arrogance all play in.

The List:

1. Notre Dame
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. LSU
5. Miami
6. USC
7. Michigan
8. Ohio State

Notable Insights & Memorable Quotes

• On Hatred as Validation:
  “Hatred is like a badge of honor... because if they hate you, chances are you’ve done something right.” – Josh Pate [03:55]

• Ohio State (#8):
  “People don’t like you when you’re always good. But outside of that, I’ve only got Ohio State at eighth.” [09:21]

• Michigan (#7): Sign Stealing Residue
  “There’s still a lot of bad blood... about how 2023 went down and how the entirety of the Jim Harbaugh era is remembered.” [11:47]

• USC (#6): Generational Hate
  “If you were around for Pete Carroll, Matt Leinert, Reggie Bush... you hated USC. But there's a new generation that just hates Lincoln Riley.” [16:03]

• Miami (#5): The National Edge
  “When they’re good, they are first in line to let you know... Miami’s a very national fanbase with a very unique way.” [19:31]

• LSU (#4): The Kiffin Factor
  “Lane Kiffin has walked in the door and white hot heat, like true heel... so I’ve got LSU at number four, but they could rocket to number one at any given moment.” [22:15]

• Texas (#3): Arrogance Without Hardware
  “Someone in the comment section said, and I quote, ‘I hate Texas because they have the arrogance of Alabama with the trophy case of Auburn.’” [25:09]

• Alabama (#2): Saban Era Hangover
  “There’s no team in the country that brings more jubilance in our comment section than when Alabama loses a game.” [28:23]

• Notre Dame (#1): Timeless, Multi-Generational Hate
  “Notre Dame’s mattered as long as the sport has mattered... People hate it, I’m telling you. I think it’s just because they can’t have it.” [30:21]
  “There is like a real, real, real sharp tip of the spear when it comes to talking about Notre Dame. Overwhelmingly, the feedback was, we got no respect for the way they carried themselves after they got left out of the playoff.” [31:18]

• Georgia’s Surprising Absence:
  “For as good as they’ve been, I just didn’t pick up on it... Kirby needs to really embrace a heel persona because there’s not nearly enough hatred out there for Georgia for the amount of winning they’ve done.” [33:01]

Perfect Conference Realignment Proposal [32:30]

Prompt: “You have a clean slate. How would you perfectly align college football conferences?”

• Philosophy:

  • Emphasize regionality
  • Foster tradition and rivalries
  • Cap conference size at 10 teams for true round-robin schedules
  • “If you have a number [in your conference name], that’s how many teams should be in the league... with one exception.” [35:13]

• SEC:

  • Back to regional basics: Bama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee.
  • “A nice, neat, tidy SEC.” [37:12]

• Big Ten:

  • No coast-to-coast travel. Focused on Midwest tradition: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin.
  • “If you’ve got a number, I want that to correspond with how many teams are in the league.” [38:25]

• Big East Returns:

  • With Cincy, Louisville, Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse, UConn, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, UCF, Boston College.
  • “The Big East is back.” [39:11]

• Southwest Conference Resurrected:

  • Texas, Texas Tech, SMU, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Rice (probationary), Tulane.
  • “We have room for food at the table... Rice enters as sort of a probationary period.” [40:03]

• Big Eight Returns (Exception to Rule):

  • Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Colorado, BYU, Utah.
  • “The one concession... the number in the name of the league will not correspond with the number of teams.” [42:34]
  • Red River Shootout mandated annually, despite Texas and Oklahoma being parted conference-wise. “We’re not doing away with any rivalries.” [43:52]

• Pac-10 Reborn:

  • Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Cal, Stanford, USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State.
  • “No new artwork! The Pac-10 was fine.”

• ACC Focused in the Southeast:

  • Clemson, Duke, FSU, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami, NC State, UNC, Virginia, Wake Forest.

• Independents:

  • Notre Dame, Northwestern, Vanderbilt
  • “I’m not forcing Notre Dame to join a conference.” [47:51]
  • “When we did this last time, any team who was taken out of a conference and made independent, there were torches and pitchforks in the comments.”

Vision for Media Rights:

• Pooling media rights across all conferences, creating scheduling flexibility (e.g., fewer noon kickoffs for Ohio State type teams).
• “Regions and rivalries, traditions — these are not dirty concepts. We still believe in them around here.” [51:22]

Coaches/Teams in Must-Win Mode for 2026 [44:27]

Main Names Cited:

• Mike Norvell (Florida State):
  "Buyout is really all that saved him. They've just had their worst two year stretch since '74 and '75. Mike Norvell needs to win. That's how you silence all that." [45:03]

• Shane Beamer (South Carolina):
  “It’s a tough job... but Clemson’s kind of down right now. This is the opportune moment.” [47:13]

• Luke Fickell (Wisconsin):
  "Has gone 7–6, 5–7, and 4–8 at Wisconsin. Not good enough." [48:11]
  "Wisconsin won nine games combined the last two years… Bielema and Chryst did that nearly every year." [48:43]

• Lincoln Riley (USC):
  "This doesn’t mean they have to win the Big Ten, but they do have to be in the playoff picture. The overall caliber of the roster should be improving year over year." [50:33]

Others with Different Kinds of Pressure:

• Sarkisian (Texas): "Immense pressure to compete for a national title."
• Kalen DeBoer (Alabama): "Immense pressure, but not job security type."
• Matt Rhule (Nebraska): “The Rule rule… it just didn’t click last year, but not a hot seat situation.”

The Noon Kickoff Conundrum [53:58]

Fan Question: Why do teams (especially Ohio State) keep getting stuck with noon kickoffs?

• Pate’s Take:
  "I love noon kickoffs... but most people don’t. Ohio State especially has been victimized by the entire Big Ten television media deal infrastructure thing." [54:46]
  "Fans didn’t sign any deal! The deal they sign is with Ohio State when they send their money in for season tickets." [57:20]
  "If you want to know the biggest advantage to a singular college football TV deal, it’s not about revenue. It’s about flexibility: more primetime games, more variety for fans." [59:02]

Experiences at ESPN: Behind the Curtain [63:27]

• "College football is still massively undervalued... when you shut up and listen to those who negotiate the big TV deals." [63:41]

• On Media Conspiracies:
  "Most of the conspiracy theories about sports media and the biases... kind of just become laughable when you get inside the bubble... I was probably wrong, or at least misguided, about a lot of my own conspiracy theories." [64:21]

The Worst Playoff Games of the Four-Team Era [66:36]

Prompt: What are the worst playoff games in the CFP era?

Top Candidates:

• 1. Georgia vs TCU (2022-23 National Championship):
  “This was horrific. Georgia just did stuff to them all night… 65–7.” [67:12]
• 2. Alabama vs Michigan State (2015):
  “Another one… where you know this kind of feels like a waste of time.” [69:05]
• 3. Clemson vs Ohio State (2016):
  “Ohio State had three wins over top 15 teams… and then this happened.” [70:52]
• 4. Georgia vs Michigan (2021 semifinals):
• 5. Alabama vs Cincinnati (2021 semifinals):
  "Just a lean-on-them game. Bama, your roster; Cincinnati, theirs, and that's it." [72:36]
• 6. LSU vs Oklahoma (2019 semifinals):
  “LSU figured out how to hang 49 in the first half… Oklahoma scored touchdowns in every quarter and still lost by 35.” [73:42]

Mood Tracker: Penn State – Survivor’s Adrenaline [77:28]

• "Penn State fans... have the most severe case of survivor's adrenaline in the modern era. This is a program that could have been ejected out into the Big Ten wilderness... instead, Matt Campbell says yes and brings top of his roster." [77:45]
• "After all that, Penn State’s fine. It's like you were left for dead as a program, mocked and ridiculed... and the car comes to a stop—wow, we landed on our tires!" [78:56]

Closing Notes & Final Thoughts

• Josh thanks the listeners for their participation and encourages subscriptions, noting the podcast is year-round and audience-driven.
• He references the partnership with the Magnolia Foundation, highlighting its work in supporting families who have lost children.
• As usual, the show ends with a personal note—and a tease for the next live show: “I am hungry — I have not been told dinner is ready. At this point, I just have to hope.”

Key Takeaways

• The most hated teams list is ever-changing, informed as much by culture and narrative as by wins and losses. Notre Dame holds the top spot for now.
• If Josh Pate were CFB commissioner, tradition and regionality would trump TV revenue in realignment, with capped conferences and all the classic rivalries restored.
• Several high-profile coaches face “must-win” seasons — not all for job security, but for maintaining program momentum.
• The noon kickoff issue reflects the downsides of big-money media rights for fans; a unified TV deal is Pate’s proposed remedy.
• Not all playoff games have delivered; several lopsided semifinals and finals were recapped in colorful detail.
• Penn State’s hard-won optimism after last season’s tumultuous coaching search serves as a case study in fanbase emotional recovery.

Memorable Quotes

• “Hatred in college football is a beautiful thing. It’s totally acceptable.” [05:21]
• “Arrogance of Alabama with the trophy case of Auburn.” [25:09]
• “Regions and rivalries, traditions — these are not dirty concepts.” [51:22]
• “Buyout is really all that saved [Norvell].” [45:03]
• “Fans didn’t sign any deal…” [57:20]
• “This was a splattering to end all splatterings.” (on Georgia–TCU) [67:12]
• “It’s like survivor’s adrenaline. Wow, we landed on our tires!” [78:56]

Host: Josh Pate
Production: iHeartPodcasts | StateMaterial.com
For direct support of Magnolia Foundation: magnoliafoundation.com/give