Why did Oklahoma get in over Georgia? Paul Finebaum shares his thoughts on the decision
By Keith Farner
Published:
The final debate for the College Football Playoff committee was widely believed to be between Oklahoma and Georgia for the final playoff spot in the top four.
During his regular weekly appearance on Birmingham-based WJOX, 94.5 FM program “The Roundtable,” SEC Network host Paul Finebaum offered his opinion on the debate between Georgia and Oklahoma.
“I think the committee probably felt Georgia should go in, but it’s like trying to overturn a play on the field,” Finebaum said. “But when they used some of the catchphrases that they did, unequivocal, that’s telling you they couldn’t pull the trigger. Someone in that room said, ‘You know what guys, if we put Georgia in, we are going open up Pandora’s box and we may never get the genie back in there.’
“I think spirited wasn’t the right word, I think the word was contentious and it should have been. I think the right choice was Georgia. I understand the decision, it was the path of least resistance, but if you’re looking at the best teams in the country, Georgia is better than Oklahoma, and yeah it’s debatable, but you can’t win that debate. You could argue Georgia is one of the two best teams, I certainly don’t think you could argue Georgia is is one of the three best teams because they are”
Georgia largely had the “eye test” argument with the way it played Alabama being fresh in the minds of the college football world. But Oklahoma avenging an earlier loss and ultimately beating every team on its schedule en route to a Big 12 Championship became the ultimate trump card on the argument against two-loss Georgia.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
