Paul Finebaum Talks CFP Expectations For Ole Miss, Missouri Heading Into 2024

ESPN's Paul Finebaum appeared on “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning” and discussed Ole Miss and Missouri and the College Football Playoff expectations for both teams heading into the first year of the 12-team playoff in 2024.

Finebaum said that it would be a failure for Lane Kiffin if the Rebels didn't make the playoffs and wasn't as confident about the Tigers. Per SDS:

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“It will be a failure. This is what he has been building towards, this is what he has been talking about. A couple of years ago things did not look great from an NIL standpoint. He was able to reverse that, he aced the portal, everyone knows what he got this year. He’s got one of the more experienced QBs in the league and around the country,” explained Finebaum. “There’s no sugar-coating it, it would be a complete and utter failure if Ole Miss didn’t make the Playoff.”

As for Eli Drinkwitz’s program, Finebaum felt Mizzou actually overachieved a bit in 2023, leading him to be a bit more cautious in his expectations for the Tigers.

“I’m not quite as insistent (that Mizzou makes the Playoff). I feel like they really overperformed last year. You could argue that Missouri let a game get away against LSU. But beyond that, I felt like they came up really throwing aces a lot of times,” Finebaum said. “They won that Kansas State game, they really survived… I think they are in Playoff contention, I’m just not as confident.”

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