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ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum makes picks for today’s CFB playoff games
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Merry College Football Christmas, everyone.
The 2018-19 College Football Playoff semifinals begin this afternoon, beginning with Clemson-Notre Dame at 4 p.m. EST and then Alabama-Oklahoma at 8 p.m. And despite Vegas listing the Tigers (-12) and the Crimson Tide (-14) as heavy favorites, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum expects a competitive pair of games.
He joined SportsCenter on Saturday morning to give his final thoughts on the highly anticipated games and make picks.
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Clemson-Notre Dame: “I think it’s a little closer than Vegas thinks, but I like Clemson, 31-24.”
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Alabama-Oklahoma: “On paper, this is an unbelievable matchup, but this game is on grass. I like Alabama comfortably.”
Considering Finebaum is an SEC radio host, he went into more detail on Alabama:
“By no means is this Alabama’s best team (under Saban) and they’ve certainly been more complete, but offensively Alabama has never — not in this era or any time in its history — had a quarterback like Tua (Tagovailoa),” Finebaum said. “He’s explosive. He has a bevy of wideouts that’s better than anyone in the country. But it’s Tua that everyone is going to be watching tonight, especially Tua’s health. We’ve heard about that now for several weeks. We’ll hear about at least up until kickoff at 8 p.m. (ET) tonight.”
Tyler has covered college football on a freelance basis since 2010. In addition to Saturday Football, his work has been featured on ESPN Radio, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, Cox Media Group, Athlon Sports, and more.