One of the loudest SEC ‘purists’ in the world of college sports, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, continues to show that his eyes are lying to him.
On Friday, Finebaum elected to take a shot at the Arizona State Sun Devils, who provided the best College Football Playoff game of the season so far and were one botched targeting call away from eliminating the SEC from the semifinals entirely.
“I think you have to remember that two of those bye teams really had no business getting byes, and that was the ultimate flaw in the system,” Finebaum said on Get Up. “Arizona State and Boise State should have been playing on the road the very first weekend, and we wouldn’t even have this conversation. But Oregon is an outlier. It has been a problem for that program. It’s been such a great program, but in the big games, last year, of course, twice against Washington and this year, the second game against Ohio State, they really just could not get it done.”
Finebaum made sure to ride the high horse over Arizona State, which took the last remaining SEC team to double overtime, despite a horrible break from the officiating crew. The call, a missed targeting call on the final ASU drive of regulation, garnered takes from referees around the world, namely Gene Steratore, who took to social media to clear the air.
“My phone has been burning up all morning,” Steratore wrote. “Yes, this should have been a flag for targeting in #TEXvsASU. It meets all of the criteria of targeting (Rule 9-1-4).”
Regardless, Finebaum decided that the problem with the College Football Playoff was Arizona State earning a bye, even though the other three teams receiving byes, Oregon, Georgia, and Boise State, got blown out significantly. The point difference between ASU and Texas was just eight points in overtime, while Georgia lost by 13, Oregon by 20, and Boise State by 17.
While it’s no shocker that SEC voices are advocating for a change to the current model after underwhelming in the first-ever 12-team playoff, it’s hard to view Finebaum’s words any other than coming through SEC-tinted lenses.
