Paul Finebaum Puts BYU In College Football Playoff Over Traditional Powers
Oct 19, 2020, 11:44 AM
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)
(Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
PROVO, Utah – Paul Finebaum is not one to give praise easily, especially to teams outside of the SEC. But 2020 continues to produce unexpected outcomes.
Whoever had Paul Finebaum placing BYU in his College Football Playoff bracket on their 2020 bing card, you just won.
Paul Finebaum: unknowingly, continually, fanning the flames of the BYU Utah rivalry 😬 pic.twitter.com/C7Dvx79TVr
— Pumpkin Spice Hemā (@x_hems) October 19, 2020
That’s right, the shock jock radio host, who’s not known to acknowledge football outside the Southeast, has BYU in his top four after the conclusion of week seven. “Huge win over the Houston Cougars Friday night. BYU has looked really good. Now, do they have the schedule? That’s a big question mark.”
Finebaum put BYU in his Playoff bracket over Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Penn State. The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions begin their season this upcoming weekend.
If Finebaum’s Playoff four came to fruition, BYU would play the No. 1 ranked Clemson Tigers, who are coming off a 73-7 thrashing of ACC foe Georgia Tech. The other matchup in Finebaum’s Playoff would feature a game we just witnessed this past weekend, Alabama taking on SEC rival Georgia.
BYU’s strength of schedule will likely be an issue for the Cougars if they continue to creep closer to the College Football Playoff conversation. Still, the positive part of BYU’s resume for the Playoff Committee is their dominance against their opponents. ESPN’s Bill Connelly, the creator of the SP+ ratings, has BYU with the third-best resume to this point of the season, behind only Clemson and Alabama.
This is a bit of a different tone from Finebaum than what we witnessed last year when Utah was in the hunt for the Playoff. Last season, Finebaum infamously said the country didn’t want to see Utah in the Playoff because it’s Utah.
2020, continue to expect the unexpected.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m., KSL Newsradio). Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
