Paul Finebaum offers thoughts on CFP picture, how Tennessee stacks up to Southern Cal
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Paul Finebaum appeared on ESPN’s “First Take” on Wednesday to discuss the latest College Football Playoff rankings, which were released Tuesday night.
The ESPN and SEC analyst said that his biggest takeaway was related to where things stand going forward for current No. 4 TCU.
“TCU has to win out,” Finebaum said. “We know that. And I don’t think they will, so that’s not a big discussion. But what it really says is that Southern Cal has a chance to get in this thing. … Southern Cal has big games. They’re at UCLA this week, they have Notre Dame, then they have a PAC-12 championship game.
“Should they win out, they’re going to be in a really good spot, assuming that TCU loses. And of course, we’re going to get a loser between Michigan and Ohio State. And I think if it’s Michigan, you move them out.”
Finebaum, did, however add that he still believes that in looking at the Trojans and Tennessee against each other, that the Volunteers would get the nod.
“I think they’re going to take Tennessee,” said Finebaum when discussing that scenario. “They have a 27-point win over LSU. … They have a win over Alabama. Alabama’s going to win out, so they’ll be 10-2 and ranked somewhere in the top six or seven. LSU will not win out, but that’s still a great win when you consider that Tennessee (won) on the road. That trumps anything that Southern Cal has.”
You can see the entire discussion in the video below:
.@finebaum gives us his thoughts on the latest CFP rankings:
"[The latest rankings] tell us that TCU has to win out. … what it really says is that Southern Cal has a chance to get in [the CFP]." pic.twitter.com/TS7YN8XZxR
— First Take (@FirstTake) November 16, 2022
"Chris Wallace covers college football for Saturday Down South. He has covered college athletics for multiple newspapers and also worked previously for Rivals.com and GolfChannel.com."
