Paul Finebaum discusses if there could be new blood in the College Football Playoff

Paul Finebaum recognizes that the same usual suspects have overtaken the College Football Playoff year after year. However, the craziness of this season has given us a chance to see new blood at the dance come Playoff time.

With teams like the Cincinnati Bearcats and Michigan Wolverines ranked in the top six, we could see new teams get a chance at a national championship. In an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning on WJOX in Birmingham, Finebaum discussed the possibility.

“I think it depends on Jim Harbaugh, because he’s certainly in the best position to crack open a new spot,” stated Finebaum. “His first of a three-prong Ouija Board starts this weekend.

Michigan certainly has the best shot of any team to breathe new life into the College Football Playoff. If the Wolverines can win out, they could catapult themselves as high as the No. 2 seed — with their sights set on No. 1 if the Georgia Bulldogs are upset.

Finebaum has been notoriously hard on Harbaugh, but the job he’s done with Michigan this season has been magnificent. If the Wolverines can defeat the undefeated Michigan State Spartans this Saturday, their resume only continues to beef up.

Finebaum: ‘The Cincinnati conundrum continues’

Cincinnati Bearcats fans are enjoying arguably the best season in program history. Ranked No. 2 in the nation, Luke Fickell has his program turning heads.

Still, doubters remain — and Finebaum is one of them. The SEC Network analyst isn’t convinced Cincinnati can hold water with the rest of the possible College Football Playoff contenders.

“Other than (Michigan), the Cincinnati conundrum continues,” stated Finebaum. “I don’t want to sound like the cranky guy on Monday morning, but the more college football I watch, the more ridiculous I think it is that Cincinnati is No. 2 in the country.

“Any door I go down now is going to leave me with questions like, ‘that’s not how you’re supposed to do it.’ But I try to just look at teams versus teams and tell me somebody that … is Cincinnati going to beat Georgia? No. Is Cincinnati going to beat Ohio State? No. Can Cincinnati beat Alabama? No. And I think they’re over-seated quite frankly.”

Cincinnati has impressive wins over Notre Dame and Indiana, but their close win against Navy on Saturday caused hesitancy. They got the victory, but it was the type of victory that didn’t do anything to impress people like Finebaum.

The Bearcats still have a juicy matchup against SMU remaining, but the rest of their games are against weaker competition. Evidently, Paul Finebaum believes they’ll have to perform better to get a chance at the College Football Playoff.