Paul Finebaum ranks top 4 teams in college football after Week 5
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Paul Finebaum hosts the SEC Network’s flagship show, but he also comments on all of college football during his weekly Sunday SportsCenter segments.
On Sunday morning, after a dramatic Week 5 slate of games around much of the country, Finebaum updated his top-4 teams.
As you can see below, he still has SEC powerhouses Alabama and Georgia in the top spots, but then he has them followed by a pair of Big Ten teams. Here’s his top 4, along with some comments he made about each on SportsCenter:
- Alabama Crimson Tide: “Guess who? Alabama. The score is deceiving. This was a 42-7 game, and nobody saw that coming. Everyone thought this would be 61-58. Alabama’s defense really showed up, and so did their offense.”
- Georgia Bulldogs: “At No. 2 — and you can quibble all you want, but Georgia remains No. 2. They were fantastic against Arkansas. They out-physical-ed one of the most physical teams I’ve seen all year, but the Dawgs remain No. 2, and they’re knocking at the door of Alabama.”
- Iowa Hawkeyes: “Iowa was fantastic Friday night. They absolutely shut down an ascending Maryland team. Next week will take care of one of those (against Penn State) at least for a while.”
- Penn State Nittany Lions: “I start with Penn State. They did what they had to do last night. Now, they have a big one coming up in just 7 days against Iowa. Penn State is ready for that game. They’ve beaten Auburn, and they are ready to head to Iowa.”
Finebaum also discussed Cincinnati as a team to file away, a team that stands poised to move into the top 4, especially with Iowa and Penn State squaring off next weekend:
“It’s the team that everyone will be talking about this week. That’s Cincinnati,” Finebaum said. “They’ve been fantastic. Indiana a couple weeks ago; They went to Notre Dame. And if you’re an old-time football fan, this looks really great. They were up 17-0 at halftime. They shut down the Irish. But that was yesterday.”
How will Week 6 affect the rankings? We’ll find out next Sunday!
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
