Following Georgia’s win over Clemson on Saturday in Charlotte, ESPN personality Paul Finebaum believes the Bulldogs can cruise to the College Football Playoff and that the Tigers are now on the outside looking in.
Speaking on The ESPN College Football Podcast, Finebaum opined that UGA is in a similar position to where Notre Dame was last season when after beating Clemson during the regular season, the Irish still made the playoff as a one-loss team with their only loss prior to the playoff coming to the Tigers in the ACC Championship Game.
Finebaum also sees Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma (despite its narrow win over Tulane on Saturday) rounding out the four-team playoff field.
Meanwhile, he thinks Clemson’s schedule the rest of the way is “nothing more than a liability” and that North Carolina’s upset loss at Virginia Tech on Friday was detrimental to the Tigers’ playoff chances.
“Georgia now has a free pass to the SEC Championship Game,” Finebaum said. “Unless Florida just simply blows us away and is a team that I’m not sure they are, then Georgia gets to Atlanta, they play Alabama and it’s a free game. It’s like last year with Notre Dame — it didn’t matter if they won or not (in the ACC Championship Game), they were going to the playoffs, and Georgia will very likely be in that position. And let’s say Alabama is as as good as they looked — against an ACC team, I might add. That clogs up half the field right there, and you know Ohio State is going to find a way, and Oklahoma, in spite of what everyone said yesterday about 3 o’clock, is probably going to find a way.
“And what’s Clemson going to be doing? Beating the door down, saying hey, we’ve got some wins over NC State and Miami and maybe North Carolina? North Carolina, that loss really, really hurt Clemson as much as anyone.”
Georgia might cruise to Atlanta, and the result of the SEC title game may not even matter. For Clemson, the schedule from here becomes nothing more than a liability.https://t.co/JyN43Yh0KP pic.twitter.com/eFU5OTyrhj
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) September 5, 2021
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