Paul Finebaum: Georgia gripes righted, Texas trash talk holds merit

The Georgia Bulldogs have had issues with the College Football Playoff selection committee rankings. In particular, with how this year’s selection committee has evaluated strength of schedule.

At times, Georgia’s frustrations have extended to Texas, a fellow member of the SEC. It’s rare that one conference member may be critical of another, but as Paul Finebaum explained on The Matt Barrie Show, the Bulldogs have expressed that frustration, and that talk does hold merit.

“For the Georgia people, and I’ve talked to Josh Brooks the athletic director who took a wild haymaker at the committee on Friday on our program and Kirby and all of the things that we’ve talked about,” Finebaum said. “They just looked at not only the schedule, and there was a little bit of talk about the Texas schedule from the Georgia people as well. I know that verboten in the SEC to talk about one of your brothers but I heard plenty of people that Texas has had the easiest SEC schedule since Tulane was a member in the ’60s and I think you could back that up.”

This is Texas’ first season in the SEC. That expansion has ended divisions and has, seemingly, led to some uneven schedules in terms of difficulty. Georgia, for instance, has to play five games against currently ranked teams, including a non-conference game against Clemson. To this point, Texas’ only ranked opponent is Georgia, a game the Bulldogs won. The Longhorns will also play Texas A&M.

“But it was about that Clemson game,” Finebaum said. “They really are proud that they wrap their arms around playing schools like Oregon and Notre Dame and schools like that, even though last year, if you remember, they had the easiest schedule in the country. But I feel like they have been righted.”

With Georgia’s win over Tennessee, the Bulldogs are, likely, in a comfortable position to make it to the Playoff. Now, the question is about being prepared for that deep run.

“Kirby also talked about planning for the Playoff,” Finebaum said. “I mean, this is in the off-season. He essentially said we knew were going to lose a game or two. We just didn’t know to what degree. He was planning for a 16, 17, 18 game schedule, not the predictable 12 game schedule.”

For the time being, Texas remains the top-ranked team in the SEC. That is unlikely to change without the Longhorns suffering a second loss. However, the next rankings will be revealed on Tuesday night, adding some clarity on how the selection committee views these teams.