Paul Finebaum leaps to defend Alabama over Miami from Stephen A. Smith in College Football Playoff talks
Coming out of the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings, Alabama found itself in the field while Miami found itself out. And at least one ESPN analyst is heated over that fact.
Stephen A. Smith made the case on ESPN’s First Take on Wednesday morning that Miami is more deserving of a playoff spot than Alabama.
He was vehemently disagreed with by fellow analyst Paul Finebaum, who has been pounding the table that Miami doesn’t deserve to be in the College Football Playoff based on its overall body of work. Moreover, Finebaum defended Alabama and its claim on the final playoff spot.
“What you have to understand is this is not last year when there’s only four schools,” Finebaum said. “We’re talking about 12 schools. So as you get to the bottom they’re not perfect. We’ve had too many conversations for me to try to convince you this is the same team that Nick Saban coached. They’re not.
“But to argue just because Miami has Cam Ward, just because they have the best offense in the country, that’s no reason to get in. You have to look at what they’ve done versus what Alabama has done. That’s all we’re talking about here.”
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Even the College Football Playoff selection committee chair Warde Manuel broke down the case for that.
Alabama is 3-1 against current top 25 teams, while Miami is 0-1. Meanwhile, Alabama is 6-1 against teams currently above .500, while Miami is 4-2.
Finebaum leaned on statistics like those to back his case.
“I understand the committee. Alabama has a better resume,” Finebaum said. “I don’t know how else you look at it. They also pass the eye test. I don’t think it was really that close, because Doggie made the best case I heard: Ole Miss and South Carolina probably ought to get in over Miami.”
Stephen A. Smith even conceded that point, happy to note he’s really only against Alabama’s inclusion moreso than Miami’s exclusion from the College Football Playoff.
“It’s not about me being pro-Miami,” Smith said. “It’s about me being anti-Alabama. So if you want to tell me Ole Miss, I’m good with it. You want to tell me it’s South Carolina, I’m good with it. I’m talking about Alabama.”