ATHENS — Paul Finebaum gazed into his crystal ball during a DawgNation appearance on Monday night and saw a Georgia football three-peat.
“I think it is very realistic,” said Finebaum, an award-winning journalist who hosts his own show on the SEC Network from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. each weekday.
“We all know Georgia is the favorite, and we know what (DawgNation) has been talking about for months. I think it will happen.”
The Bulldogs have won the past two CFP Championships, dethroning Alabama 33-18 two seasons ago in Indianapolis and blowing out TCU by a 65-7 count last January in Los Angeles.
The repercussions have been obvious to Finebaum and most other college football fans, but there are some holding out hope Coach Nick Saban can lead Alabama to one more title.
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A Georgia three-peat, however, would extinguish any notion that Saban, a seven-time national championship coach, still rules college football.
“What it will mean,” Finebaum said on the Ingles On The Beat Show, referring to Georgia winning a third straight title, “is it will end what in many peoples minds is already a fruitless debate about the Saban Dynasty.
“I’ve argued, and I know you have, you can’t have a dynasty when somebody else has won two in a row.” Finebaum said. “(Alabama) has had a great run, there’s no need to waste your time on that.
“But I think three in a row will just shatter that argument — other than in the minds of a few Alabama fans who are still claiming that they split in 2021 and last year was a wash considering they didn’t have to play.”
Kirby Smart was a part of Saban’s first four national championships as an assistant coach and elite recruiter at Alabama, and now entering his eighth season as a head coach, he has put the Georgia program atop the sport as the only to win back-to-back titles in the four-team playoff era.
“More than anything, it just establishes Kirby Smart as the best coach in the country, which many people already believe he is,” Finebaum said, “with Georgia as the best program, which I already think they are.
“It affects people that simply won’t let go of Nick Saban more than anybody else.”
