ARLINGTON, TX - DECEMBER 31: TV/radio personality Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network speaks on air before the Goodyear Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium on December 31, 2015 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)The first poll for the 2020 College Football Playoff was released yesterday and the SEC made off like a bandit with three teams in the top six. Naturally, ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum was delighted, and had a strong prediction for the final four.
On Wednesday’s edition of Get Up, Finebaum predicted that the SEC will get two teams in the College Football Playoff. He hearkened back to 2017, when SEC champion Georgia and at-large Alabama both got in.
In this case, Finebaum believes that Alabama and Florida will both be in if Florida beats Alabama in the SEC Championship Game (the expected matchup). But if Alabama wins, he believes that Texas A&M will replace Florida.
“This was pretty obvious and it’s where the SEC is positioned right now,” Finebaum said, via Saturday Tradition. “We know about Alabama. But as of right now there’s a pretty good chance that a second SEC team gets in. We saw that a couple of years ago with Alabama and Georgia. But if Florida beats Alabama in the SEC championship and everyone else wins out, there’s a reasonably good chance that Florida and Alabama get in. If Florida loses, look out, here comes Texas A&M. Remember they beat Florida at Kyle Field back in September, but lost to Alabama in Tuscaloosa. But they are positioned to finish in that fourth spot if things go according to plan.”
Paul Finebaum likes SEC’s chances of landing two teams in College Football Playoff https://t.co/37vz5UpGxH
— Saturday Tradition (@Tradition) November 25, 2020
It’s pretty clear that the SEC at-large teams have a leg up on almost everyone else. That includes prospective Power Five conference champions and every Group of Five team.
Texas A&M has already lost to Alabama though, and we’ve never had a College Football Playoff where a team that had already lost to another team in the tournament got in. By the same token, Florida beating Alabama and then seeing Alabama get in would also be a first.
Teams on the outside will have to cross their fingers that one of those three teams stumbles down the stretch.
Which SEC teams will make the College Football Playoff?
