Paul Finebaum Reveals How Many SEC Teams Can Win a National Championship

The 2026 college football season will get under way this weekend as Week 0 starts things off. After that, the race to dethrone the Indiana Hoosiers is on.

Big Ten Owns College Football

But it's not just about dethroning the Hoosiers; it's also about dethroning the Big Ten. The Big Ten has won the last three national championships, with no team winning more than one during that time span. The Michigan Wolverines started things off in 2023, and the Ohio State Buckeyes followed that up in 2025, before Indiana won in 2025.

The SEC was once the dominant conference in the sport; however, its last national championship came in 2022, when the Georgia Bulldogs capped off back-to-back national titles. The question heading into this year is whether one of these SEC programs can dethrone the Big Ten.

Paul Finebaum Believes Only Two SEC Teams Can Win the National Title

ESPN's Paul Finebaum didn't reveal what teams he would choose, but said that he thinks only two teams have a chance to get it done.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) looks to make a pass in the first half against the Georgia Bulldogs. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"I don't see more than two teams that legitimately could make it to the final Monday of the season," Finebaum said on 'McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.' "Therein lies part of the answer. I just see a lot of schools look like they are headed to 10-2 seasons, but could very well go 9-3 and miss the playoff. It's not so much the ninth game... it's just that unknown game for every team."

SEC Faces Major Challenge in Attempt to Dethrone the Big Ten

While Finebaum did not name the two teams in his comments, it's safe to assume the Georgia Bulldogs and Texas Longhorns are the two programs he has in mind based on his SEC Championship Game prediction. Finebaum has previously predicted the Bulldogs and Longhorns to meet for the conference championship, making them the clearest candidates to match his description of the SEC's two legitimate national title contenders.

Both programs have the talent to make a deep playoff run. Georgia remains one of the most consistently elite teams in the country, while Texas enters the season with enormous expectations surrounding quarterback Arch Manning and one of the most talented rosters in college football.

If Finebaum's prediction comes true, the SEC Championship Game could effectively serve as the conference's biggest test before the College Football Playoff. And if Georgia and Texas are indeed his two teams, one of them would have the opportunity to do what the SEC has been unable to accomplish since 2022: win the national championship and end the Big Ten's reign.

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