Paul Finebaum reveals his 2023 College Football Playoff projections plus first two out

ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum revealed his 2023 College Football Playoff predictions on Get Up this Friday. Finebaum had no hesitation when telling his list of two Big Ten and two SEC schools to Mike Greenberg.

“It’s pretty boring, but it’s Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and Alabama,” Finebaum said. “You can mix it up any way you want other than Georgia. I think that’s where you have it and right after that is probably Clemson and SC.”

Two schools from the same conference have made the College Football Playoff before but the College Football Playoff has never had just two conferences represented among its four teams.

The first time it happened was during the 2017 season when Alabama and Georgia both made the College Football Playoff. The Bulldogs were the No. 3 seed and SEC champion while the Crimson Tide were the No. 4 seed after a one-loss regular season. Alabama then beat Georgia in the national championship game.

The second occurrence was, technically, in 2020 when Clemson and Notre Dame made the Final Four out of the ACC. That was the second Notre Dame played an all-ACC schedule and joined the conference for the season due to the pandemic.

Last season was the third occurrence when Michigan and Ohio State both made it out of the Big Ten. The Wolverines won the Big Ten title while Buckeyes made it as a one-loss non-conference champion. Their one loss came against Michigan.

While two conferences occupying all four playoff spots has never happened, it did come somewhat close last year. Alabama and Tennessee were the first four teams out of the playoff, meaning five of the top six teams in the final 2022 College Footbal Playoff rankings came from the SEC or Big Ten.

Paul Finebaum College Football Playoff predictions

Four In
Georgia
Ohio State
Michigan
Alabama

First Two Out
Clemson
USC

Heather Dinich names Florida State as potential College Football Playoff spoiler

Heather Dinich had the same top four for the College Football Playoff, Greenberg revealed. But she then gave a team outside of Finebaum’s six that she thinks could slide into the College Football Playoff: Florida State.

“All eyes are on the Seminoles and with good reason,” Dinich said. “No team in the country has a better opportunity to impress the selection committee in the month of September than Florida State. My prediction is that they’re going to lose to Clemson during the regular season but they will beat them in the ACC Championship game to win that conference…and put themselves at least in contention to finish in the top four.”