Paul Finebaum explains why he's out on Alabama as SEC's best chance to win national championship

Despite their eighth straight win, Paul Finebaum said he is “out” on Alabama right now as the SEC’s best chance to win a national title. Alabama beat LSU 20-9 at home Saturday.

While initially saying yes, Finebaum backtracked and said Alabama’s running game would be the area to hold them back in the College Football Playoff. As it stands, the Crimson Tide are atop the SEC with Texas A&M in terms of conference record.

A top five team, Alabama looks pretty darn good. But if the run game continues to be what it was Saturday, it might not be enough to win a national championship.

“Alabama did not look good yesterday,” Finebaum said on SportsCenter. “They were lackluster. But the problem with Alabama right now is that they, I’m actually out on Alabama because of their running game. They just can’t get it going. And I think to go far in the national championship, they’re going to need to do better. They have one of the best quarterbacks though, in Ty Simpson.”

Daniel Hill led the team in rushing with just seven carries for 21 yards and a touchdown. Jam Miller had eight carries for 13 yards in the game as well.

It’s a good thing Ty Simpson was slinging the rock. He was 21-of-35 for 277 yards and a touchdown. Otherwise, the offense was pedestrian against the Tigers.

“It’s always good to get a W. Definitely not satisfied with the way we played at times,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said postgame. “Made enough plays to win. But certainly got to continue to improve. We got to get back to work tomorrow. Our guys know that. Proud of the defense, holding them to field goals. Four red-zone attempts and walking away with nine points, it’s a great job by those guys. 

“Penalties, like what I see there. And then won the turnover battle, so obviously a big play there at the end. And just there’s plays out there we got to make, and that will help a lot of our offense. And defensively, I thought we fought for four quarters. And so quietly, just going out there, taking care of business and really locked in on anything that we might have saw that was a little bit different. But for the most part, we find a way to win, and that’s what matters.”