Paul Finebaum still has ‘serious reservations’ about Ohio State ahead of Rose Bowl vs. Oregon

Although they somewhat redeemed themselves from what happened in The Game with what they did against Tennessee in the opening round of the College Football Playoff, Paul Finebaum still has his issues with Ohio State.

Finebaum reacted to Saturday’s playoff games, including the Buckeyes’ 42-17 win over the Volunteers, on SportsCenter Sunday. For Ohio State moving forward, he just wants to know what version of their team is playing in each game, as their consistency is all that matters in how far they advance in the field.

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“The biggest question I have for Ohio State is, which one shows up?” Finebaum asked. “We know what happened last night. Will that same team move to Pasadena? If they do, they have a very good chance to beat Oregon because they only lost by one last time in Oregon.”

“But I have serious reservations, as big as that win was. Can this team put two or three wins together? That’s been one of the problems for Ohio State all season,” Finebaum said.

The Buckeyes, who beat the Volunteers Saturday in Columbus, are one of the best teams in college football. By nearly doubling them in yardage, specifically in the passing game, they were up 21-0 from the kickoff and by as many as 32 in the eventual 42-17 victory. That Ohio State obviously looked much, much better than the one we saw last time they took that field against the Maize and Blue.

But amid his concerns about Ohio State, Finebaum also has something about Oregon ahead of their rematch in The Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. While the Buckeyes had three weeks between the end of the regular season and last night’s game, the Ducks will have a break that is a few days longer than between the Big Ten Championship and their first game in the CFP.

“The only question I have for Oregon is the firing,” Finebaum said. “I talked to Kirby Smart yesterday and he said, yeah, it’s great to sit on Friday and Saturday to watch football, but you worry about three weeks off. That’s exactly what Oregon obviously wants since the Big Ten Championship. You like to rest, but you also worry about sitting and not playing football, which Ohio State did.”

This part of the playoffs should give us the two best matches based on the three possible outcomes. Now, with no. 1 Oregon vs. no. 8 Ohio State set, it comes down to how ready both will be to play at kickoff in Cali on the first day of 2025.