Paul Finebaum expresses optimism in Oklahoma, South Carolina entering 2025 season

The offseason hype machine can be very real. It can be hard not to get caught up in and, for a pair of SEC schools in Oklahoma and South Carolina, analyst Paul Finebaum is quickly hopping on the bandwagon going into the 2025 season.

Finebaum, while making an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, began with the Sooners. After an offseason of major personnel changes, Finebaum believes they’re more prepared to compete in the SEC in their second season in the conference.

“I feel really good about Oklahoma,” Paul Finebaum said. “I think Oklahoma has got it together from a quarterback standpoint, from an offensive coordinator standpoint, both of whom, of course, came from Washington State. I think they’ve filled in some gaps.”

After major issues on offense and at the quarterback position, head coach Brent Venables made some major offensive changes. New offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle is coming over from Washington State along with his quarterback John Mateer. After finding success together, the two are hoping to replicate that on a larger stage.

Brent Venables has received a decent amount of criticism through three seasons at Oklahoma. At 22-17 overall, he’s finished two regular seasons at .500 while losing all three bowls the Sooners have played in. Expectations are higher than that for the Oklahoma program, which can be seen in other moves he made to update the staff.

“I think Brent Venables realized that he just wasn’t quite prepared for the SEC,” Finebaum said. “Also, I think bringing in somebody you guys know, Jim Nagy, from the Senior Bowl may have been the best move of the offseason. I talk to NFL people a lot and college administrators and everyone is raving about him.”

The other team that Finebaum is excited about is South Carolina. Similar to Oklahoma, Finebaum believes that they have the quarterback situation figured out with LaNorris Sellers. He’s already found success within the program too, unlike Mateer at Oklahoma.

“Another school I really like is South Carolina,” Finebaum said. “LaNorris Sellers is at the very top rung of quarterbacks. I expect them to make a tremendous difference.”

South Carolina, unlike Oklahoma, is coming off a strong season in 2024 where they competed for a College Football Playoff bid. That ultimately came up short, but now there is hope to make another push and this time make the Playoff. Of course, for both teams, there will be incredibly difficult SEC schedules to get through even with big expectations on their shoulders.