Paul Finebaum locks Alabama in as legit playoff team, national championship contender

Alabama added to its résumé on Saturday with a 27-24 win over Missouri on the road. During an appearance on The Matt Barrie Show, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum weighed in on Alabama’s recent success.

“It doesn’t matter what happened in Week 1 now, because we know what’s happened since then, and that is the real indicator,” Finebaum said. “I’ve talked to 50 people about that day in Tallahassee, and it just got away. Simple as that, doesn’t matter now. But, Alabama is really good.

“… They have Tennessee, they’re at South Carolina, they have LSU at home, they have Oklahoma at home, they’re at Auburn. The schedule is getting better for them. It’s not a cinch. But, they’re looking very much like a playoff team and, in my mind, a potential championship team.”

Since suffering a running 31-17 loss to Florida State in their season-opener, the Crimson Tide are 5-0. Their last three wins have been against opponents ranked in the AP Top 25.

In Alabama’s win over Missouri on Saturday, Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson tallied 200 passing yards and three touchdowns, without throwing an interception. Alabama’s defense was solid as well, squeezing two turnovers out of the Tigers.

As Finebaum mentioned, Alabama’s back half of the regular season could be easier than its first seven weeks. The team has three ranked opponents ahead, but all three of those games are at home for the Crimson Tide.

It’s a promising sign for the Crimson Tide, who are looking to earn a bid in the College Football Playoff after missing out last season. As long as Ty Simpson is conducting the Crimson Tide’s offense, Finebaum feels good about Alabama’s chances.

“I joked yesterday on our show that if you throw out the FSU game, Ty Simpson has wrapped up the Heisman,” Finebaum said. “I realize you can’t throw out any game, but he has been that good, and they’re better on defense than I thought.

“I thought defense was really going to do them in after FSU, but that part of the lineup has gotten very good. They still kind of play with their food and have a hard time putting teams away. We saw that against Georgia, and we saw it yesterday.”

Alabama will to avoid another nail-biter on Saturday when it takes on No. 11 Tennessee at 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will air live on ABC.