Paul Finebaum staff ranks 3 SEC teams among 10 squads under most pressure to win title
The Clemson Tigers dominated the Alabama Crimson Tide in January to claim their second College Football Playoff title in four years.
The Crimson Tide, of course, have two of the last four titles, so it isn’t like they’re in danger of falling from the top echelon of college football teams any time soon.
However, on Monday, the staff of “The Paul Finebaum Show” on the SEC Network ranked the 10 teams under the most pressure to win the 2019 title. As you can see below, they had Alabama at No. 1, followed by Georgia at No. 2 and LSU at No. 9:
Which programs are under pressure to win the #CFBPlayoff National Championship in 2020? pic.twitter.com/L2RrX7YGDN
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) June 3, 2019
The Tide are seemingly under a lot of pressure, especially since QB Tua Tagovailoa is likely to leave for the NFL Draft after the season. However, it only makes sense to have Alabama at No. 1 if Clemson wins the title. Nick Saban wouldn’t want Dabo Swinney to win another title over him.
This year’s battle for a title will be fun to watch though, and the stakes are high for these nine teams (and the entire Pac-12).
I would think the most pressure is on UGA. All the fans are saying it’s their year and Kirby needs to break out of that Richt trajectory at some point..
I was thinking the same. Plus it’s been a very long time since their last natty.
You can ALWAYS count on bamatime to have Georgia on his mind.
We can always count on you to add nothing to a conversation..
You should go back to being 30014 or the Tennessee screen name you used…
Why do UGA fans like to pretend to be other people?
Wouldn’t you?
Agree BamaTime. This will be Kirby Smart’s best team. He’ll have a 3 year starter at QB, one of the best O-lines in the country, and a championship caliber defense. He needs to climb the mountain top this year.
If the article would have been about the SDS staff or commentators instead of Finebaum then UGA would be #1 by a long shot
I don’t think there are 10 teams in the country with pressure to win the NC. Quite frankly, I’m not sure there are any. If anyone, maybe UGA and OU.
Harbaugh and Michigan are under the most pressure, given his salary is one of the top ones in the nation and the fans are getting restless since he can recruit but can’t win the games that matter. I’m surprise Finebaum doesn’t have him #1.
Harbaugh just needs to beat Ohio State and win the Big 10. A NC would be nice, but I don’t see many people complaining if he does the other two things.
^^^This. Everyone outside of Bama, Clemson, OU, ND, and UGA feels (at most) pressure to win their conference and/or make the playoff. Of those 4, UGA should feel the most pressure to win the NC. I’d have Bama & Clemson next simply because their expectations are now perennially so high and because of their QBs. Then OU and ND, who probably face more pressure to make the NC game (i.e. actually win a playoff game) than to win it.
I don’t agree with Ohio State (on account of a new HC and QB) or LSU (bigger pressure seems to be beating Bama and winning the West). I think Texas has another season or two before pressure really begins to mount. Surely ND fans realize more time is needed after being shellacked by Clemson. I don’t know about this year, but Bama will definitely be top of this list in 2020 if they don’t win the NC in 2019. UGA should be either 1 or 2. Harbaugh is definitely under pressure to actually win something of meaning (Big 10 and/or NC). OU has failed to do anything in the playoffs with consecutive Heisman QBs and the nation’s best OL, so even though Riley is young he has to prove he can win big games against top opponents with top athletes on his roster. Pac12 needs to just send someone to the playoffs.
Really, where is that pressure coming from:
Alabama is only a well-played game or two away from winning it every year now. So that idea is horse manure
Georgia is out performing Mark Richt and how long was Richt there?
Michigan hasn’t been dominant in the Wittle Ten for so long fans forgot they ever were, and really, ?were they?
Oklahoma hasn’t gotten any better because of ‘pressure’ for about a decade
We saw who Texas had to settle for at head coach, if you think that is pressure to be a Nat. Champ, bless your heart
Notre Dame is not playing Top 20 ranked football every week, rarely if ever dominating their opponents like a champ
Clemson, well he might be right here, Weenie-sway has gone to the dope closet
Ohio State….. Meyers….. wife beaters….. Purdue, nuf said, I can’t wait to get to Vegas with this hot tip.
LSU, I’m not down on O, but Paul really, they played a non-power five team in a bowl last year, and nobody got fired.
I finally got the satire, tongue-in-cheek, from FineBram when he finished with the whole Pac 12, if two teams in that conference have a chance of making the play-off in the same year the whole west coast will finally break off and drift out to form a conference with Hawaii.
Lmao wow, hot take from the world where who the committee sends to your bowlgame is a reason to be fired. We won a NY6 bowl, 10 games, finished top 6 in the country, and beat 5 ranked opponents. Is this somehow worse than losing to a power 5 opponent in the liberty bowl? Lmao. Leave it to a Mizzou fan to dismiss the season of a team/coach that made his debut making you his homecoming b*tch 42-7 and shattering offensive records.
I’d say Michigan should be #1 and Notre Dame #2. Alabama could go years without making a playoff and Saban wouldn’t lose his job, not seeing the pressure there. They’ve been spoiled rotten. On the other hand, I think Michigan has had expectations that Harbaugh would get them a championship, and they’re coming off a strong season. I think they have their eyes set on the prize next year, and will be disappointed with anything less.
Notre Dame had a perfect season and got squashed by Clemson in the playoff. They are going to have extremely high expectations next year and a first round exit from the CFP wont go over well.
They should just remove Notre Dame from that list all together, that’s just a pipe dream. After that whoopin Bama put on them a few years back, they should have been given a 20 year suspension from any such consideration…
This list is kind of silly. How is Alabama under pressure to win a championship this year? The 5 championships in the last 10 years aren’t doing it for Bama fans? I know some Bama fans are delusional, but most aren’t. This isn’t a “make or break” year for Saban. Even if Saban didn’t win the SEC West, I don’t think Saban would find his seat any hotter than it is after winning a championship. He’s built enough trust at Alabama to last a while.
Ohio State is breaking in a new headcoach. There is a grace period, even at high expectation programs.
LSU? Probably not, but maybe.
Oklahoma? That fanbase didn’t ditch Bob Stoops after laying an egg for so many years … they aren’t going to suddenly change with Lincoln Riley. Those fans are probably content dominating the Big-12.
Nah, I think the teams most in need of making the Playoffs (at least from the SEC) are Georgia and Auburn. Getting embarrassed by Texas after all their fans were whining about being left out of the playoffs … well, that can’t happen again for UGA. Smart can recruit. He can win the East. But you gotta admit, he’s won the east while most of the east has been a trainwreck. As Florida rebuilds … as Tennessee (might) rebuild, we’ll see what Smart’s actually made of. He still has to go through Bama … and no former assistant of Saban’s has ever beaten him…
Auburn? With Malzahn’s ridiculous contract after 2017, the heat is on for him to produce. Going all out against Purdue was nice … but the fans need something more than a blowout in a minor bowlgame against a lower-tier big ten team. (Malzahn is 2-4 in post-season games, with wins against Memphis and Purdue). This season is tough as Auburn faces: Oregon, LSU, Florida, Mississippi State, Georgia, and Alabama … all of which should be ranked teams this year, and all but MSU will likely be top-ten teams at some point or another. Auburn NEEDS to win at least 9 games in order for Malzahn to keep his job and one of those wins needs to be against UGA or Bama.
Excellent take..
The consensus so far seems to be that the team with most pressure to win it all this year is Georgia. Not only because their fans talk so much trash here but even their players got into the act last season first trolling ND after their playoff loss and then dissing Texas before the bowl game only to have egg and poop on their faces after the game. They sure talk to talk but so far have not been able to walk the walk.