Paul Finebaum has a hidden message for Indiana football and the Big Ten after Alabama Rose Bowl victory originally appeared on Sports news. Add The Sporting News as Favorite source by clicking here.
The SEC network expert, Paul Finebaum, mainly participates in the Kalen DeBoer experiment for the Alabama Crimson Tidethank you very much to their 38-3 loss at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day Indiana Hoosiers, undefeated Big Ten champions.
Advertisement
Finebaum spoke about the Crimson Tide’s shortcomings during a recent episode of “The Paul Finebaum Show” while giving Hoosiers the the smallest credit possible.
“But that seemed like the beginning — it wasn’t the beginning,” Finebaum said. “It was a continuum. We’ve seen that film before. Every time DeBoer had one, he caught himself. That game was different, but the Georgia game in Atlanta was a real bludgeon, except he was able to turn things around in that Oklahoma game — by the way, against an Oklahoma team that probably didn’t have to make the playoffs either.”
The Crimson Tide’s loss marked the end of a short College Football Playoff run that would have been unimaginable under former coach Nick Saban, Finebaum added.
“You knew coming out of that stadium in Santa Clara (in 2019 against Clemson) that Alabama would win again,” Finebaum said. “(Nick) Saban was still going to be great. It was just an incredibly bad night. That happened very rarely.”
Advertisement
Transitioning to the present day, these games appeared to have become a norm for a Crimson Tide team playing the complete opposite of the Hoosiers, as they advanced to the semifinals and would once again face the Oregon Ducks in the bowl of peaches.
The Hoosiers stunned the Ducks in Eugene during the regular season, as the winner will advance to the national title game against either Ole Miss Rebels Or Miami Hurricanesin the Fiesta bowl.
It remains to be seen whether the SEC and Big Ten will be left standing on title game night, but perhaps the Crimson Tide ran into the Hoosiers’ buzzsaw at the worst possible time.
In a few weeks we will know.
