Paul Finebaum watched as Tennessee lost the Music City Bowl to Purdue in overtime, 48-45.

However, the game wasn’t without some controversy, as what appeared to be a Tennessee TD on the first drive of overtime was ruled to instead be a turnover on downs due to forward progress being stopped.

Fans weren’t happy with that call, and neither was Finebaum. During his show on the SEC Network on Monday afternoon, Finebaum emphatically stated that the Vols were robbed, adding that they should consider their record 8-5 for the season:

“I refuse to accept that Tennessee lost the game,” he said. “In my opinion, Tennessee won the game. And I’ve never said this before, because I don’t like to criticize officials, but I’m going to. The officials stole that game from Tennessee. It was a total farce, an absolute, total farce. My recommendation to Josh Heupel is this — I don’t care what the NCAA rulebook says, I don’t care, that should be counted as a win. Tennessee should officially be 8-5. That’s how this show will recognize it.”

Will the Vols follow Finebaum’s advice? Either way, there’s more optimism on Rocky Top than there has been the last few offseasons, and that’s thanks in large part to Heupel.