Paul Finebaum predicts fourth College Football Playoff Top 4, how committee handles FSU

Paul Finebaum has revealed his Top 4 in the College Football Playoff at the moment, ahead of Week 13.

Joining Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe on First Take, the SEC Network analyst stated his belief in the top teams in the nation. We’ll see if the CFP committee matches Finebaum’s energy later Tuesday evening.

“I think it will be Georgia, probably Ohio State, Michigan and Washington,” revealed Finebaum. “I think this committee is going to have a very difficult time with Florida State. They’re right on that line always.

“The school to keep an eye on is Oregon and Bo Nix. I mean, Bo Nix two years ago started against Alabama at Auburn University, and here he is at Oregon, on the verge of getting his school into the Playoff. They’re playing at the very top level, outside of Georgia.”

Pretty chalk from Paul Finebaum, but it’s tough to go in any different direction at the moment. It looks like these will be the Top 4 later this evening, perhaps Florida State over Washington, depending on how the committee rules over Jordan Travis‘ injury.

Regardless, this is the last CFP rankings before The Game in Week 13. That’ll be sure to have the greatest impact on the rankings that we’ve seen yet.

Paul Finebaum evaluates if the SEC could be left without a team in the College Football Playoff

Meanwhile, the SEC has been a guaranteed mainstay in the College Football Playoff since its inception in 2014. Still, in the final year of the four-team field and a crop of teams for the committee to select from, there’s at least a possibility, regardless of its size, that the Southeastern Conference may not have a shot at the national title.

Paul Finebaum assessed that potential outcome during a segment on ‘McEloy and Cubelic In The Morning’ on Monday. In his eyes, that decision by the committee, if that indeed was the route that they deemed as correct, would cause a riot and a ton of hysteria around the league, especially for those in Athens and Tuscaloosa.

“I think it would be absolutely armageddon and I think it would be deserved,” said Finebaum. “I’m not just saying that because I’m waving a flag for the SEC. But I’m putting a lot of stock in Georgia right now – and Alabama as well.”

“I’m going to sound like one of those coaches who say, ‘I don’t want to think about it’. But I really don’t want to think about it,” Finebaum said. “I think it would be so unfair to the SEC.”

Alas, there’s plenty to still sort out nationally over this final week as well as in each conference championship. With that said, Finebaum believes we may all need to get ready for the reaction out of the SEC if it doesn’t go as they hope.

On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this article.