Paul Finebaum: Everybody was wrong about Alabama

Florida State stunned No. 8 Alabama 31-17 in Tallahassee on Saturday night despite being two-touchdown favorites coming into the game. The Seminoles took the lead in the first half and never looked back en route to victory.

The loss serves as a setback to begin the season for Alabama and now, many are questioning whether the Crimson Tide will be able to make the College Football Playoff this year. One of those is SEC analyst Paul Finebaum, who was just as surprised as anyone at the outcome of the game.

“I’ve spent a lot of time in Alabama over the summer, and being around Kalen DeBoer a couple of times, you couldn’t help but buy into what he was saying,” Finebaum told Matt Barrie. “And he made such a big deal, Matt, out of retaining his roster. Isn’t that great?

“And then you get people that go to practices, including one of our colleagues, who I respect immensely, who played the quarterback position, and he came back and said, ‘This team is outstanding. The only question mark is special teams. Other than that, they’re elite national championship caliber.'”

Finebaum asked, then even if his respected colleagues are wrong — then what should Alabama fans believe? People tend to believe the experts who are well-versed in the subject, yet “everybody was wrong” about Alabama, he said.

“It was hard for me to believe Florida State could be good. They were. It was hard for me to believe Alabama could be that bad,” Finebaum continued. “But really the issue is now beyond whether and how bad Alabama was. The issue is what happens because that fan base had bought in. And now, they’re they’re in a selling mood, and what happens to Kalen DeBoer? He’s got a $70 million buyout.

“He’s got Wisconsin in a couple of weeks and then at the end of September, he goes to Georgia, then it gets real. This schedule didn’t look all that daunting before the season, now it looks incredibly daunting.”

After Georgia, key games left on the Crimson Tide’s schedule will see Alabama will host Tennessee on Oct. 18, travel to South Carolina on Oct. 25, host LSU on Nov. 8 as well as Oklahoma on Nov. 15 all in consecutive matchups. All of those teams were ranked in the preseason top 25.

For now, the Crimson Tide will get to battle UL Monroe during Week 2 as Alabama seeks its first win of the season. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network.