Paul Finebaum reassesses 'tainted' label for Michigan following Rose Bowl win
Paul Finebaum is changing his tune when it comes to a potential national title for Michigan.
The prospects of the Wolverines winning the national championship took a dramatic turn Monday as Jim Harbaugh’s team rallied past Alabama in the Rose Bowl. Now, Michigan is a win in Houston away from hoisting the College Football Playoff trophy and a national title.
During Tuesday’s broadcast of ESPN’s “Get Up,” Finebaum was directly asked if a title for the Wolverines would be tainted. He previously said a title would absolutely be tainted due to the sign-stealing investigation surrounding Harbaugh.
However, Finebaum has reversed his stance on what a title for Michigan would mean. Instead, he says a win in Houston would be legitimate for the Wolverines with time spent around the program changing his mind about the situation.
“I would say they won it legitimately and congratulations to the best team in college football, Hail to the Victors. I said a lot of those things (about a tainted title) and I said it right here to you,” Finebaum admitted. “But after spending a week around the Michigan program, I came away with a different view. These young players — Corum, McCarthy — these guys had nothing to do with whatever happened in this program. They are really the epitome of what you expect a college program to be.”
Finebaum’s stance on Jim Harbaugh is less clear, but the analyst said it’s tough to juxtapose a potential UM title with the rest of the issues facing college football at this point in time:
“As far as Jim Harbaugh, I’m not sure what he did, but in the current state of college football, I’m not sure it’s going to matter to too many people,” said Finebaum. “…Alabama put out an urgent call last night ‘Hey we just lost we need more money.’ When you juxtapose what’s going on in college football to whatever happened with Michigan, it’s not going to be that important next Monday night if Michigan wins the title.”