Paul Finebaum makes bold prediction on Alabama, Miami ahead of penultimate CFP Top 25 reveal

Paul Finebaum is of the mind Alabama will get the College Football Playoff nod over Miami ahead of the penultimate reveal.

To be clear, Finebaum was asked if Alabama will get into the playoff, which the final rankings aren’t revealed until after the conference championship games. But in the end, it’ll be Alabama over Miami based on the resume.

In fact, Alabama will get in over other three-loss SEC teams Ole Miss and South Carolina.

“I think they will get in,” Finebaum said on Get Up. “And whether it’s brand bias, I don’t know, but to me, if the committee looks at Alabama and Miami, they see two very flawed teams. Listen, there’s no quibbling about that, but Alabama has accomplished something on the field. They beat Georgia. They beat South Carolina. I’m just not impressed with Miami’s wins. That doesn’t maybe make up for Alabama’s egregious losses. The Vanderbilt and Oklahoma games were terrible, but I think Alabama is a better football team overall, and I’d like to see Miami play that schedule and walk away with two losses. It wouldn’t happen.”

Alabama and Miami do have different resumes, that is a fact. It’s just a matter of which team the committee will rank higher since neither will be in a conference championship game.

“I think everyone’s aware of our schedule, and I don’t know the exact stats, but I know we beat four top-25 teams throughout the year,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “I don’t know how many, if anyone, has done that. So when you talk about the schedule and what it is week to week. It’s just a grind and having to come back every week, that’s really the only conference that has to do that is ours. That’s what I’d say. We won (four) of our last six. Playing some physical football. 

“I think we’ve continued to excel in that area, doing what the games are all about. So I think those are two pretty big deals. We beat some high-quality teams, teams that are still out there, I believe, playing some good ball themselves. And then just winning (four) of the last six at the back half of the season.”

Like Alabama, Miami coach Mario Cristobal made his team’s case after the regular season concluded.

“You reemphasize reality,” Cristobal said. “This team won 10 football games against some really good opponents. This last game, it came all the way down to the wire. Our two losses are by one possession left and a touchdown. That makes us one of the better teams in the country. We can control what we can control. So, we have to wait and see, but certainly, this team has really worked hard and busted its butt to put its best foot forward.”