We wouldn’t be approaching the college football season if analyst Paul Finebaum didn’t have a gripe about something.
Recently, the longtime ESPN college football commentator took a shot at one school after it made the College Football Playoff last season.
Paul Finebaum Rips SMU
On a recent episode of The Paul Finebaum Show, Finebaum took a shot at the SMU Mustangs after they made the 12-team College Football Playoff last season.
“Last year, SMU got a third-place ribbon. They had no business being in the CFP,” Finebaum stated.
To be fair, the Mustangs, as a team from the Power Four, did what they were supposed to do.
In their first season in the ACC, the Mustangs won 11 games and clinched a berth in the ACC Title Game.
SMU’S NOT DONE YET!
They make it a 10-point game in the ACC championship 👀📺 ABC pic.twitter.com/kU2LFEF7Bk
— ESPN (@espn) December 8, 2024
They went unbeaten in conference play before losing to the Clemson Tigers on a walk-off field goal.
Still, the College Football Playoff Committee felt their work was good enough to earn them a spot.
Of course, they were crushed by Penn State in the first round of the College Football Playoff, ending their season.
Anytime your season ends like that, there will be questions about your credibility and quality of play.
But that is the type of precedent that the College Football Playoff committee has set to this point.
If you win at least 10 games in the regular season and do well in your conference by adding some quality wins, you will have a great chance to get into the College Football Playoff.
However, there is that rare case of the 2023 Florida State team that went undefeated but lost their starting quarterback Jordan Travis for the season due to a significant knee injury, which is why they were presumably left out of the playoffs.
SMU Looks to Replicate 2024 Success
This upcoming season, the Mustangs are set to face some quality opponents on their schedule, especially in the ACC.
They will face Syracuse, which won 10 games last season, Clemson, which won the ACC last year, Miami, which added veteran quarterback Carson Beck in the transfer portal this offseason, and Louisville, a top-25 team a season ago.
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They will also face Baylor and TCU as part of their non-conference slate earlier in the season.
If the Mustangs can win 10 or more games, they could return to the College Football Playoff.
However, they will look to take it one step further after being crushed by the Nittany Lions last year.
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