Paul Finebaum makes the SEC's case for College Football Playoff spot over ACC champion
Conference championship weekend in college football comes with a lot of College Football Playoff implications this season, with a majority of the nation’s top teams and playoff contenders competing on Friday and Saturday. And with that comes various scenarios that can unfold that can either help or hurt a team’s playoff case, one of the most talked about being what happens if Alabama defeats Georgia in the SEC Championship game.
The undefeated Bulldogs are the nation’s top-ranked team while Alabama sits at the No. 8 spot with one loss ahead of Tuesday night’s final CFP Ranking of the regular season. But could a win for the Crimson Tide potentially leave both Georgia and Alabama out of the playoffs? That’s what ESPN’s Dan Graziano asked Paul Finebaum on ‘Get Up’ Tuesday morning.
“Over my dead body,” Finebaum said. “That’s not happening, I am not going to allow it Dan, I’ll stand outside that door in Grapevine, Texas and demand it.”
This season would mark the first ever of the College Football Playoff era without any SEC teams making the cut if neither Georgia or Alabama made the top four. A reality that would apparently force Finebaum to make his presence felt in the CFP selection committee meeting, which according to him does not have to do with his bias toward the Southeastern Conference.
“And I’m not saying that because I live and work in the SEC, but what I do know is that the SEC is the best conference,” Fineabum said. “I mean in the AP Poll yesterday I think five of the top 11 teams are from the SEC and you’re going to tell me that Florida State without its best player, which struggled against a seven-loss Florida team Saturday, should be in over Alabama or Georgia?”
Florida State is one of four undefeated teams remaining in the country that could likely lock up a playoff spot with a win in their conference championship game. But the Seminoles don’t seem to be quite as dominant following a season-ending injury to star quarterback Jordan Travis.
Travis’ injury has already slightly set back the Seminoles in the CFP rankings, serving as one of the numerous factors that will determine who makes the top four following conference championship weekend.
From the Travis injury, to Alabama’s head-to-head loss to Texas, to the resumes and strength of schedules of teams, there’s seemingly a limitless amount of factors and playoff possibilities this postseason. But Finebaum is certain that at the end of the day the SEC should be represented in the final season of the four-team College Football Playoff.
“I mean that is preposterous and I don’t want to say they need to blow up the playoff because they already did and we’re having 12 [teams] next year, but it’d be patently absurd,” Finebaum concluded.