Paul Finebaum believes 2023 FSU hangover impacted 2024 College Football Playoff committee

For the second straight year, the final spot in the College Football Playoff ultimately came down to Alabama and an ACC championship game participant.

A year ago, it was the SEC champion Crimson Tide that controversially edged out an undefeated ACC champion FSU – which had lost starting quarterback Jordan Travis the week before – for the fourth spot in what was then a four-team field.

Fast forward to Sunday, and it was ACC runner-up SMU (11-2) – which dropped just two spots to No. 10 after losing the ACC title game to Clemson on a last-second field goal – that pushed No. 11 Alabama out of the newly expanded 12-team field as the first team out.

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The selection committee’s move drew a quick rebuke from Alabama fans, including Crimson Tide AD Greg Byrne suggesting the CFP’s decision would lead to a reassessment of its future non-conference scheduling. Meanwhile, ACC fans en masse, and even some SEC rival fanbases, wasted no time dancing on Alabama’s playoff grave, including those in Tallahassee.

It was a stark contrast that didn’t escape Paul Finebaum‘s purview, and even prompted the SEC Network host to suggest the immediate FSU backlash may have ultimately factored into the Playoff committee’s decision-making process.

“The ACC was the conference in the middle of this entire (College Football Playoff) conversation this year, and I think the ACC – through SMU, ironically a new member – was the biggest beneficiary (of the expanded playoff),” Finebaum said Monday on the McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning show. “Forget the conference champion, that’s self-explanatory, but I think the FSU hangover from a year ago really affected this committee. That, as well as the obvious, … if Alabama had gotten in it would have completely devalued all these conference championship games. So, the ACC looks better than it probably really is.”

The ACC’s two representatives, No. 11-seed SMU and No. 12-seed Clemson (10-3), hit the road Dec. 21 vs. No. 6-seed Penn State (11-2) and No. 5-seed Texas (11-2), respectively. Meanwhile, SEC champion Georgia (11-2) faces the winner between No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 10 Indiana in the Sugar Bowl quarterfinal on Jan. 1.

Of course, for Finebaum, the season’s last remaining ACC vs. SEC matchup between Clemson and Texas could provide one league the opportunity at the last laugh.

“The fact that the ACC has two (teams in the field) and the SEC only has three is pretty remarkable. I also think there’s a lot of pressure on SMU and Clemson, though. If SMU gets blown out or loses to Penn State, … and the real interesting one is Clemson,” Finebaum said. “Think about this, on Dec. 21, if Texas beats Clemson, that would give Clemson an 0-3 mark against the SEC this year and I’m pretty sure that’s going to happen. It’s pretty ironic, everybody knows about the 34-3 loss to Georgia to begin the year, and the South Carolina loss two weeks ago, and ultimately one more. That even makes the argument for the ACC more difficult.”