Paul Finebaum makes his CFP national championship pick after Notre Dame stuns Georgia

The College Football Playoff will reach the semifinals this weekend, and SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum has shared his prediction on who will meet in Atlanta for the national championship game.

Despite his admitted SEC bias, Finebaum is not rolling with the Texas Longhorns, the only SEC team still in contention. Instead, the analyst expects the Ohio State Buckeyes to advance to the championship game.

“Ohio State doesn’t have to play that well, they just have to play consistently and use the talent that they have. I’m not really sure why it’s taken that long for Ryan Day to figure out what he has, but good for him that he did,” Finebaum said (19:28 mark).

The Buckeyes have been dominant in wins over Tennessee (42-17) in Columbus and Oregon (41-21) at the Rose Bowl. Texas is heading to the Cotton Bowl after a competitive home win over Clemson (38-24) and a double-overtime victory against Arizona State (39-31) in the Peach Bowl.

The Orange Bowl will feature the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Jan. 9, and Paul Finebaum also made his pick for that game.

“I just can’t get excited about Penn State beating SMU at home and then Boise State,” Finebaum said. “To me the idea that Penn State could make it to the semifinal of this thing really not having to play anyone yet is the main reason I like Notre Dame."

"I’m still not a believer in Indiana but they looked very good in that victory, and they looked even better against what I believe is a quality team in Georgia.”

The Nittany Lions beat SMU (38-10) at home and Boise State (31-14) in the Fiesta Bowl. Despite the lopsided score, the Broncos trailed by only three points midway through the third quarter. Meanwhile, Notre Dame beat Indiana (27-17) in South Bend and Georgia (23-10) in the Sugar Bowl.

Paul Finebaum expects more drama in the CFP

Much has been made of the new playoff format, but Paul Finebaum believes it represents a step forward from past college football postseason systems.

The analyst also anticipates more excitement ahead, with four storied programs battling for the national championship in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.

“It’s been entertaining. It’s a lot better than it was. It’s certainly better than where we were 10 years ago. And next week is really the great week.... but Thursday and Friday are going to be dramatic," he said.

“There are four blue bloods, there are no outliers in this thing. Every one of these programs has a long resume."

While none of the remaining teams has won a title since 2014, when Ohio State captured the first CFP championship, all share a proud history. In a couple of weeks, one of these programs will end the drought.