Paul Finebaum evaluates how many SEC teams he believes can make College Football Playoff

The SEC dominated yet another weekend of college football once again following two high stakes, headlining matchups between some of the top teams in the nation. With Georgia securing a big road win over top-ranked Texas and Tennessee handing Alabama their second loss of the season on Saturday.

The expanded 12-team College Football Playoff has only increased the importance of games like this weekend in the SEC. Leading to college football analyst Paul Finebaum breaking down how many teams in the SEC he believes can make the cut.

“Well, you move Georgia and Texas off the board and then you start to figure it out,” Finebaum said. “I think LSU‘s in really good shape, even if they lost to Texas A&M, they still have a path probably just beating Alabama. I say that because Alabama and LSU both have games against Oklahoma, but those are no longer games that we talk about. Those are automatic after what we saw yesterday.”

Eight SEC teams are currently ranked in the Top 25 of the AP Poll and are all vying for one of the precious 12 spots in the postseason. As Texas and Georgia seem like virtual locks after their matchup on Saturday and bodies of work up until this point.

Meanwhile, several other teams in the league have various different avenues of potentially making it to the College Football Playoff. Highlighted by the only two teams undefeated teams in conference play, LSU and Texas A&M, both squaring off this weekend and two-loss teams like Alabama and Ole Miss still having a chance if the cookie crumbles in their favor.

“So it’s really a matter of the path, and that’s why Georgia so desperately needed to win in Austin. They have a game at Ole Miss, and that’s a mystery to me. Ole Miss is probably the most intriguing team, they have two losses. But could they be Georgia?” Finebaum asked. “Yeah, it’s possible.”

“Tennessee now looks like a playoff team, you have to say LSU. I know I’m putting too many in, because we’re not sitting here looking at the 16 schools and the schedule. But I think the SEC is back to four, the other day I was wondering, outside shot of the a fifth depending.”

Several of the conference’s top teams still have to face one another, which will definitely help sort out the playoff race as it currently stands. Making the remainder of the regular season even more fascinating as the stakes continue to rise week after week.