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Paul Finebaum projects new CFP rankings in wake of Ohio State blowout win
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The Alabama Crimson Tide are 10-1 on the season and have a spot in the SEC championship game already locked up prior to this weekend’s clash with Auburn in the Iron Bowl.
The Tide are right near the top of the College Football Playoff rankings, where they always tend to be. But Alabama, save for a 59-3 demo of New Mexico State, hasn’t looked Death Star-like in its last few outings. A 6-point win over LSU featured some angst and then the Arkansas Razorbacks last weekend put up 35 points on the Bama defense.
Meanwhile, Ohio State has been tearing through its conference competition. The Buckeyes have scored 50 points or more in 6 of their last 8 games—all but one of which was against a Big Ten foe—and last week smashed then-No. 7 Michigan State 59-7. The Buckeyes were up 49-0 at halftime.
As a result, Ohio State jumped 3 spots in the latest AP poll to No. 2, just ahead of Alabama.
The Tide and Buckeyes were Nos. 2 and 3 in the last set of College Football Playoff rankings, but should Ohio State move ahead of Alabama in the new set?
“They should and I think they will,” ESPN’s Paul Finebaum said Tuesday on the Keyshawn, JWill & Max radio show.
“Ohio State looked to everyone last week like the 2nd-best team in the country. Alabama, they’re still good, but they’re struggling. They’re having to hold on against Arkansas. Arkansas had an onside kick that would have put them in a 1-possession game on the final possession of the game. (Alabama) can just not finish teams off. They don’t have any chemistry, they have either the best or 2nd-best quarterback in the country in Bryce Young, they have good receivers, they have a lot of talent, they have maybe the best player in the country in Will Anderson, but ultimately they can’t quite put it together to be at the highest level.”
Finebaum said he felt Alabama would still be No. 3 in the new CFP rankings with unbeaten Cincinnati at No. 4. The new rankings will be revealed Tuesday night at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
