Paul Finebaum: Seething Kirby Smart owes win vs. Vols to Warde Manuel, CFP committee

The Georgia Bulldogs earned a massive win over the Tennessee Volunteers over the weekend. It’s a win that ESPN’s Paul Finebaum shared he believes head coach Kirby Smart owes to the College Football Playoff selection committee and chair Warde Manuel.

Going into the Tennessee game, Georgia was ranked in a position that would have left them out of the Playoff. That, according to Finebaum, was clearly a motivating factor leading into the game.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Carson Beck or Kirby Smart, but Georgia really owes that victory to Warde Manuel and the CFP committee,” Finebaum said on The Matt Barrie Show. “Spending two days in Athens over the weekend, that’s all I heard. I talked to Kirby Smart two different times. He was seething off-camera. You saw a little bit of it after the game.”

Georgia has already lost two games, against highly-ranked opponents on the road, and had some inconsistencies. One of those biggest questions came down to the play of quarterback Carson Beck, who had thrown 12 interceptions in six games going into the Tennessee game. However, the Bulldogs more than answered those questions in the win.

“I know it sounds far-fetched to say that was the motivating factor because they already were in a dire straight, but I’ve rarely seen a place more ready to explode and we saw that in the second half. I don’t think we should be surprised. It was only the biggest game of Carson Beck’s career. Can you imagine he had thrown a couple of interceptions and lost the game? I mean, his legacy literally in the trash heap,” Finebaum said.

“But they pulled it out. Now, all the questions that were being asked about Georgia get flipped over to the loser on Saturday night.”

The next College Football Playoff selection committee rankings will be revealed on Tuesday night. However, it’s expected that the Bulldogs will move back into a Playoff position.

Kirby Smart calls out College Football Playoff selection committee

Immediately following the win over Tennessee, Kirby Smart expressed some frustration with the College Football Playoff selection committee, explaining he doesn’t know what they’re looking for in teams.

“Well, I don’t know because I don’t know what they look for,” Smart said. “I really don’t know what they look for anymore. So, I would welcome anyone in that committee to come down to this league and play in this environment. It’s a tough place to play.”

Georgia will finish the season with back-to-back non-conference games before potentially getting another shot in the SEC Championship Game.