Paul Finebaum on Nick Saban's CFP case for Alabama: 'They're not winning arguments'

Alabama is on the outside looking in when it comes to the College Football Playoff heading into Sunday’s CFP selection show. Paul Finebaum didn’t sugarcoat things when discussing why he believes the Crimson Tide won’t be finding themselves in the field of four when it’s all said and done.

“While Nick Saban has some interesting arguments – they are not winning arguments,” Finebaum said Sunday morning on SportsCenter. “His arguments and his campaign is as inconsistent as his football team was this year and that just simply don’t fly. As far as being favored in every game – that’s great. Nick Saban’s always favored. He’s only been the underdog I think once in 15 years, so that means Nick Saban should have 15 national championships at Alabama instead of six?

“That’s not how this is done, and that’s why Nick Saban is going to be disappointed in a couple of hours.”

Saban’s arguments come down to the fact that Alabama lost both of its games on the road to top-10 opponents by one score. To Finebaum, a two-loss Crimson Tide just doesn’t have the win quality needed to jump ahead of the Buckeyes in the final rankings.

Despite both No. 3 TCU and No. 4 USC losing their respective conference title games, TCU is widely expected to still earn a spot in the top-four, and with the Crimson Tide ranked one spot behind No. 5 Ohio State, the committee would theoretically slot the Buckeyes into USC’s position. In Finebaum’s scenario, Alabama will not make the playoffs for the second time since its inception in 2014.

Kansas State‘s upset over TCU in the Big-12 Championship game certainly helped the Crimson Tide’s case, but we won’t know the final implications of TCU’s loss until the CFP selection show, which will air on ESPN at noon ET Sunday afternoon.