Paul Finebaum explains why SMU is out of College Football Playoff for Alabama with loss to Clemson

Assuming a loss for them to Clemson on Saturday in the ACC Championship, Paul Finebaum thinks SMU is going to lose an argument with Alabama come the selection of the College Football Playoff.

Finebaum broke down the discussion of the Mustangs or the Crimson Tide while on ‘Get Up’ on Friday. In the end, if Southern Methodist does lose their conference title game in Charlotte, he does have ‘Bama getting into the playoff over them as an at-large.

“Yeah, I think it’s going to be Alabama,” Finebaum said.

Finebaum’s stance is simple as he’s of the opinion that Alabama (9-3 – SEC at-large) would have more justified themselves as a playoff team than, at that point, SMU (11-2 – ACC runner-up).

“The fact is that Alabama has such a better resumé than SMU,” said Finebaum. “SMU hasn’t beaten anyone. That’s their problem. We saw the other night with Warde Manuel. Alabama is 3-1 against Top-25 teams. That, I think, ultimately, will be the difference.”

However, if the selection committee were to seed it that way, the question about conference championships would come about again. They’d avoid it altogether with a win for SMU and could still avoid it if the Mustangs have a competitive outing against the Tigers. Clemson winning by a certain extent, though, and making them miss the field entirely would lead to fair arguments about the importance of title games if those extra outings are going to be held against teams, specifically ones who could end up on the bubble with a loss.

“If it’s a close game, it’s a closer call. If it’s a blowout, it’s really not an issue,” Finebaum said. “That’s where this thing becomes a very difficult thing to understand because of what I just said a minute ago. I think this committee is walking on a slippery slope if they decide that SMU can’t go by losing in a conference game, even though they don’t have a very good schedule, while Georgia can go.”

Brand bias, especially that involving those from the Southeastern Conference, has been a talking point again during the rankings of this playoff. Still, it doesn’t take partiality for Finebaum to think this is how it’ll go, if that’s where the two teams find themselves, between SMU and Alabama on Sunday

“I know people around the world think everything is steered and directed toward the SEC. It may seem like that on Sunday,” said Finebaum. “I think that’s how it’s going to end up.”