Paul Finebaum gives opinion on Texas’s College Football Playoff case after Texas A&M win
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Paul Finebaum was in Knoxville on Saturday morning as SEC Nation held its final pregame show of the regular season from the site of Tennessee‘s rivalry showdown against Vanderbilt.
But the ESPN college football analyst’s mind was firmly on Austin, 1 day after Texas toppled its rival, No. 3 Texas A&M, to ruin the Aggies’ pursuit of an undefeated season and potentially revive its own College Football Playoff chances. The Longhorns still have those 3 losses after their 27-17 victory over Texas A&M in Austin on Friday night, but Finebaum doesn’t believe that should stop Texas from stealing a Playoff bid on Selection Sunday.
So, Finebaum was asked, now Texas should be in?
“In my mind, Texas belongs in the College Football Playoff, even with that (9-3) record,” Finebaum said.
Finebaum also pointed out that Texas decided to play its season opener at Ohio State, a brutal way to begin its 2025 season, while other big-time programs decided to play lightweights in their season openers. He doesn’t think the Longhorns should be penalized for that game, which they lost to the now top-ranked Buckeyes.
That loss at Florida stings, Finebaum admitted, but he believes Texas made up for that with a significant win on Friday night against the 3rd-ranked team in the country.
We’ll know in a little over a week whether Texas is able to steal a Playoff bid despite having 3 losses.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
