Paul Finebaum defends CFP picking Alabama over FSU, calls out ACC commish Jim Phillips

On Sunday, the College Football Playoff selection committee announced Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama will be the final four teams. Their decision excluded undefeated Florida State and back-to-back national champion Georgia.

Despite the controversy surrounding the committee’s selections, Paul Finebaum isn’t interested in hearing complaints. On Sunday, the SEC Network analyst weighed in on the unprecedented situation.

“I thought it was the right decision and I felt Nick Saban put it best yesterday by beating Georgia,” Finebaum said during an appearance on ESPN. “It wasn’t because it’s the SEC. It’s because the SEC champion beat the best team in the country, and the team that beat the SEC now-champion finished third. That’s a really nice resumé.”

Texas is the No. 3 overall seed in the CFP with Alabama falling just behind it. Outrage sparked over the committee’s decision to keep Alabama in over Florida State, which was one of only three Power Five programs who finished the season with a perfect 13-0 record.

If Florida State starting quarterback Jordan Travis was still healthy, there would not be a conversation. However, he isn’t. Travis went down with a season-ending injury in FSU’s Week 12 victory over North Alabama.

Travis and head coach Mike Norvell released statements following the committee’s announcement. They weren’t alone in their efforts. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips grilled the CFP selection committee for its choice to exclude FSU.

“It’s unfathomable that Florida State, an undefeated Power Five conference champion, was left out of the College Football Playoff,” Phillips said. “Their exclusion calls into question the selection process and whether the Committee’s own guidelines were followed, including the significant importance of being an undefeated Power Five conference champion.”

Paul Finebaum reminds Jim Phillips of past decisions

Not only does Finebaum believe FSU did not deserve a spot in the CFP, he claims the program shouldn’t be upset due to the impending 12-team playoff next year.

“I understand the outrage,” Finebaum said. “It’s a little over over the top and, quite frankly, it doesn’t matter because we have a system next year that suits what all the people are crying about. Florida State would have played. I think Liberty [would have played] in the 12-team playoff.

“I don’t mean to point fingers back at the ACC, but the ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips put out this manifesto earlier, outraged and unfathomable — I think was his word — but he was one of those three commissioners that joined that alliance a couple of years ago that really stopped the 12-team playoff from being in existence today.”

In August 2021, Phillips, along with the leaders of the Big Ten and Pac-12, formed a pact founded on their educational and athletic missions. They called it “The Alliance.” The group agreed to stick together on matters that could threaten their conferences’ prosperity.

One of these threats, at the time, was the introduction of an expanded playoff scenario. Now, two years down line, Phillips’ decision will haunt his conference’s best program. FSU will face off against Georgia at 4 p.m. ET on Dec. 30 in the Orange Bowl.