One of the biggest SEC fanboys over the past few years has been none other than ESPN’s Paul Finebaum.
After singing praise of the SEC’s dominance in the world of college football, the league has missed the National Championship game for the second straight time in the past two seasons.
With the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish clashing in the 2024 National Championship, the SEC has officially been eliminated from the College Football Playoff field.
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum commented on the situation, saying, “I managed to hear that this morning on a plane from Dallas, sitting with 225 of my closest friends and Ohio State fans,” Finebaum said. “That is significant. Everyone always thinks that those of us who live in SEC country try to hide things like that. Even today, we’re still arguing for Alabama to get it. But that’s a dramatic moment. It’s a seminal moment in time that I didn’t expect, especially with a 12-team Playoff.”
“It’s really amazing when you think about it,” Finebaum continued. [The last time the SEC missed the title game] was before Saban. Urban Meyer had just arrived at Florida. Les Miles was about to start roaming the sidelines. To think that we’re in that moment is cause for a lot of concern, at least in the southern part of the world.”
While it may come as a shock to Lane Kiffin, Kirby Smart, Paul Finebaum, and several other vocal SEC-biased individuals, the fact of the matter is that the SEC just was not dominant this season. Multiple of the league’s top teams dropped games to teams failing to reach bowl eligibility, while leagues like the Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12 flourished.
Ohio State, led by former Big 12 quarterback Will Howard, takes the field against Riley Leonard, a former ACC quarterback, and Notre Dame in the National Championship on Monday, January 20th, at 7:30 p.m. CT.
