Paul Finebaum updates his top 4 teams, explains debate between Ohio State and Alabama at No. 5 after Week 13

Paul Finebaum made an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter Sunday morning to break down the Week 13 of action in college football. That included Finebaum updating his top 4 teams in the country plus one more in his “Rank & File” segment.

According to Finebaum, the top four is clear after Ohio State’s big loss to Michigan and LSU getting knocked off by Texas A&M. Here is how he slotted the top 4:

• 1. Georgia
• 2. Michigan
• 3. TCU
• 4. USC

Finebaum explained that USC’s big win over Notre Dame means the Trojans have a clear path to the College Football Playoff with a win in the Pac-12 Championship:

“Southern Cal at No. 4. What do they have to do? They have to win the Pac-12 Championship Game Friday night,” said Finebaum. “If they lose, they’re in trouble.”

As for the top two spots on his list, Finebaum admitted it “was not easy.” He explains Michigan probably has the best win of the college football season but Finebaum still went with Georgia at No. 1 overall:

“This one was not easy, but Michigan at the No. 2 position although many would argue they have the most dominant win in college football this season,” Finebaum said. “Looks like Jim Harbaugh is going back to the Playoff.”

As for the first team out of the top 4 and the team Finebaum has under his “File” category, he went with Ohio State having a slight edge over Alabama. However, those two teams will need some help over Championship Weekend for chaos to reign:

“I’m going with Ohio State for this reason — and we’re talking Ohio State vs. Alabama at this point if chaos reigns,” said Finebaum. “Ohio State lost by 22 at home, it was a beatdown in the fourth quarter. However, that’s the only loss. Alabama has 2 losses against teams that now have 5 losses between them, so that’s where the committee has to decide this weekend and we’ll hear it Tuesday night.”