Paul Finebaum Names Preseason Top-10 Team That Will Quickly Fall in Rankings
Newsweek · C · trust 19/100
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum is one of the more opinionated pundits in the industry.
Often getting called out by players and coaches over his sometimes scorching hot takes, Finebaum has never been afraid to speak his mind.
So when he appeared on Monday’s edition of ESPN “SportsCenter,” Finebaum had no issue with informing viewers which current preseason top-10 team he believed was overhyped and would end up dropping in the rankings because of their loaded schedule.
“I don’t know how people realistically think Oklahoma is going to finish in the top 10,” Finebaum replied when asked what he thought was the biggest surprise of the AP preseason rankings. “You can say whatever you want about John Mateer…but their schedule is beyond brutal.
“The second week of the year they go to Michigan. Michigan is highly regarded — they’re in the top 20 — and what’s going to happen when Oklahoma gets there. And that’s not even talking about a road trip to Georgia in September, the Red River (rivalry) against Texas — I don’t know how they finish in the top 10.”
To Finebaum’s point, Oklahoma opens the year with an easy home game against UTEP, but then the Sooners travel to No. 16 Michigan the following week and have back-to-back matchups against No. 3 Georgia and No. 5 Texas on Sept. 26 and Oct. 10, respectively.
OU then has four games against SEC opponents Kentucky, Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Florida, then the Sooners finish the year with three straight games against ranked SEC opponents in No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 8 Texas A&M, and No. 25 Missouri.
Oklahoma went 10-3 last year and snuck into the College Football Playoff, but given how loaded its schedule is this year, replicating its 2025 success doesn’t seem very realistic right now.
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