Paul Finebaum reacts to Alabama’s loss to Georgia, why Kentucky win is so important now
By Adam Spencer
Published:
The Alabama Crimson Tide suffered a narrow home defeat to Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
It was a hard-fought, low-scoring battle, but Georgia earned the 20-17 victory to stay unbeaten. It wasn’t without controversy, as a potential pass interference call against the Bulldogs’ defense was missed late in the game.
But the game is now settled, and Alabama has its first loss of the season. On SportsCenter on Sunday morning, though, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum said Alabama is still in good position for the College Football Playoff, thanks in large part to how well the win at Kentucky has aged:
“I remember being at that Kentucky game a few weeks ago and when Alabama came from behind, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal,” Finebaum said. “It’s a big deal now, because that’s a major win for Alabama and that’s hard for me to even fathom saying. … Georgia has always been lurking out there. We kept saying ‘Texas is No. 1, but…’
“But Georgia overcame a lot. … (The Crimson Tide) still have Keelon Russell, who made some mistakes, but is still Alabama’s future. And by the way, that (non-pass interference) call you see there. My show starts at 3 p.m. on Monday and we’ll be taking calls in like 5 minutes.”
Alabama still has a 77% chance of qualifying for the Playoff, according to Kalshi. Will the Tide get the job done? We’ll see what happens in the coming weeks.
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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.
