Skip to main content
Join

Paul Finebaum: All-Big Ten CFP title game would 'change the paradigm of college football'

Matt Connollyby:Matt Connolly•01/03/25•

MattConnollyOn3

Untitled design-212
Oct 5, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; SEC Nation analyst Paul Finebaum looks on prior to the game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Missouri Tigers at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images.

The SEC has ruled the college football world for years, but the conference has struggled in the College Football Playoff thus far. Georgia and Tennessee both lost by double digits, and the only remaining SEC team in the CFP is Texas, which needed double overtime to beat Arizona State in the Peach Bowl on Wednesday.

Of the four remaining teams still alive for a national title, two are from the Big Ten in Ohio State and Penn State, with Texas and Notre Dame also still alive.

Get your team’s official College Football Playoff watch from AXIA by CLICKING HERE: “Watches that tell so much more than time”

ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum discussed the playoff and the possibility of an all-Big Ten national championship game on SportsCenter Thursday.

“Let’s say If Penn State beats Notre Dame and Ohio State beats Texas, the lone SEC team, we’re talking about an all-Big Ten final,” Paul Finebaum said. “We’ve had three All-SEC finals since 2011 with Alabama playing a big role in those. But this would really completely change the paradigm of college football that has been all about the SEC, particularly when [Nick] Saban was at Alabama and then Kirby Smart going for the three-peat last year.”

Three SEC teams made the College Football Playoff, with Tennessee and Texas both playing in the first round, while Georgia received a bye.

The Vols were blown out by Ohio State in the first round, and Georgia fell 23-10 to Notre Dame on Thursday. Texas beat both Clemson and Arizona State, but the Longhorns had to survive late to top the Sun Devils.

The results thus far have led to 50 percent of the teams in the Final Four being from the Big Ten. If Penn State and Ohio State both win, the Big Ten will be guaranteed to have the national title winner.

“Imagine if it’s two Big Ten teams and the Big Ten is ruling the world,” Finebaum said. “I’m not sure what we’re going to do down here in SEC country but hang our heads.”

It has not been a great postseason for the SEC thus far. Things could be about to get even worse if Texas loses to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl on Friday, Jan. 10.

The Longhorns are the last remaining hope for the SEC to win another national title.