Paul Finebaum's Best Team in America Debate Comes Down to Two College Football Powerhouses

The battle that is college football can be pared down to the ultimate question of which team is No. 1. But for SEC personality Paul Finebaum, he's got two teams that are clearly at the top of the ever-shifting heap in college football. Finebaum isn't entirely sure, based on recent comments about which team is No. 1, but he's pretty clear about which two teams are in contention for that nod.

Finebaum's Big Two

"I'm torn between Ohio State and Georgia," Finebaum admitted today on Sirius XM's Mad Dog Sports Radio. "I'm well aware Ohio State lost, but I think it terms of a roster, they have it, and they'll get the opportunity."

The Buckeye Situation

Ohio State did suffer a week two loss to Texas, but will get chances to move back up the ladder with this weekend's game at No. 14 Iowa, and by finishing October and opening November with a three-game run of at Indiana, at USC, and at home against Oregon.

Of course, Ohio State's loss to Texas jumped the Longhorns to No. 1 in several major college football rankings. But by squeaking out that game and edging the Tennessee Vols last week in Knoxville, Texas hasn't done quite enough to earn Finebaum's praise just yet. That said, the dean of SEC talking heads does have a concern about Georgia.

Georgia's Resume

Georgia and coach Kirby Smart are Finebaum's top college football team, albeit with a caveat. (Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images) | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"As of today, it's probably Georgia [as the top team], but that's a cautionary tale because Georgia played Oklahoma the other day, which has just becocme terrible," said Finebaum. "The played Arkansas, they didn't have that usual big game at the beginning of the season."

But Georgia's easy street schedule is soon to end and Finebaum sees that as a point of definition. "I think Georgia will define Georgia a week from Saturday night when they got to Tuscaloosa," he said. Finebaum further noted that he didn't "have any doubts" that Georgia would be No. 1 with a win against the Crimson Tide.

Georgia has seemingly spent the entire 2026 season under the radar. In the initial AP poll, while the Bulldogs were ranked third, they did not garner a single first-place vote, while sixth-place Indiana had eight such votes and even seventh-place Miami had one vote.

As the schedule shapes up, the Bulldogs seem to have a near-guaranteed path to the College Football Playoff. They are 4-0, set to host Vanderbilt, and the only ranked foes ahead on their schedule are Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss, and No. 25 Missouri. ESPN's FPI ratings give Georgia an 84.1% chance to reach the Playoff and like Finebaum, has the Bulldogs at No 1.

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