Paul Finebaum is trying to remind the college football world that this year’s Vanderbilt is not the traditional doormat of years past. In fact, he believes the suddenly bowl-eligible Commodores could beat some of the Big Ten teams mentioned in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Tuesday night featured the first version of the CFP poll of the season with Oregon leading the way. Ohio State (No. 2), Penn State (No. 6) and undefeated Indiana (No. 8) were also featured high on the poll.

However, Alabama was a particular topic of conversation as the highest-ranked 2-loss team. Finebaum used that opportunity to remind everyone that one of the losses by the Crimson Tide isn’t has bad as originally perceived, even taking a shot at the Big Ten in the process.

“That loss against Vanderbilt, I’m not trying to eject you from your seat, isn’t as bad as it looked 4 weeks again. I think Vanderbilt could beat a lot of those Big Ten teams that we’re sitting here whining about,” chastised Finebaum. “Vanderbilt went down to Auburn last week and won, they have been impressive.”

On the wider topic of Alabama, Finebaum remains high on the Crimson Tide as a team who controls its own destiny. Considering the Tide had 2 losses before we even reached November, that is remarkable, to say the least. It’s also a reminder of the opportunity that exists in the expanded Playoff era.

“I think as far as Alabama is concerned, they’re about where they ought to be, but it doesn’t matter where they are, because if they win Saturday night, they have a straight shot into the Playoff,” predicted Finebaum. “… I don’t think they’re in bad shape here. I’m not saying it’s easy to go into Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night, but they really do control their own destiny right now. And that’s remarkable considering how bad they have been.”