Josh Pate Calls Big 12 Program ‘America’s College Football Team’

While the topic of “America’s Team” is usually reserved for fans of the National Football League, CBS Sports’ Josh Pate took a stab at determining “America’s College Football Team” on Sunday.

The SEC and Big Ten primarily get all the love regarding topics like this, but Pate believes America’s Team needs to come from a conference outside of the Power Two.

Pate gave the nod to Kenny Dillingham and the Arizona State Sun Devils, and raved about the program in the latest episode of Josh Pate’s College Football Show.

“I think Arizona State would be my answer here,” Pate said. “Number one, it’s not an SEC or Big Ten team. You cannot be America’s football team and be in one of those conferences because you have to have a likable quality about you, and those conferences aren’t likable right now.

“The program was left for dead,” Pate continued. “Then they went and hired Kenny Dillingham. That is a marriage that I always love to see when it’s possible. Either hire a guy who played or coached at the school, if it makes sense, or hire a guy with ties to that region and that program.”

Dillingham finished his thoughts by saying, “Kenny grew up in the stadium’s shadow. The guy would have crawled over broken glass and taken a 50% pay cut to stay there just because. Kenny Dillingham is Arizona State. I celebrate that.”