Paul Finebaum breaks down the current state of the SEC after Week 6
Paul Finebaum had a lot to gripe about within the SEC moving forward after Week 6, and he’s letting his opinion fly.
Evidently, Finebaum has been disappointed with the conference he covers from top-to-bottom for their performances throughout the season. Examining the SEC against the strength of other conferences in the nation, Finebaum explained during an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning that he believes it’s slightly bleak after the top two.
“I think from a top-heavy standpoint, a lot of it is Alabama. I mean, we talk about the Playoff predictor, and who’s in the top this or that, and Alabama’s still not there. Alabama has been there for so long. So it was automatic. Georgia’s become the second automatic. So that hurts a little,” Finebaum stated. “The question is, does the league get — the question will move from, will the league get two, or will the league get one? That’s a big shift.”
While Georgia and Alabama will usually be among the top teams in the nation, it looked like programs like Tennessee and Ole Miss were being primed to make a run in 2023. That hasn’t come to fruition this season, and Finebaum believes it’s weakened the conference.
“Secondly, Tennessee emerged in recent years. So many questions about them,” Finebaum added. “Florida has not been great, but they’re a shell of its former self. And you’re right, there’s some very bad teams at the bottom. They make for competitive games, but they don’t help the overall reputation.”
When you compare the SEC to conferences such as the Pac-12, Finebaum believes that it’s easy to see why the latter is always in the news, while the SEC has been a slight afterthought in 2023.
“When you look out to the Pacific Northwest this week, and you have a game like Oregon–Washington. Southern Cal, as flawed as they are, they’re still playing marquee games every week. Colorado, like them or not, are still being noticed,” added Finebaum. “The SEC is not there. … I was on (a national show) yesterday morning, and I didn’t get asked about Alabama. Georgia was an afterthought.
“Because the perception of Georgia nationally, publicly is Georgia shouldn’t have any trouble with Kentucky. We all tried to talk that game into something, but deep down, you knew what was going to happen.”
Nevertheless, the SEC will continue to be well represented in the biggest games of each weekend, especially if Georgia goes undefeated again, and if Alabama can get out of their funk. They may need some other teams to step up, but that certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility.