Paul Finebaum reveals ‘conundrum’ with Alabama football

There is quite the conundrum with the Alabama Crimson Tide going into the 2023 season, so says ESPN’s Paul Finebaum.

The quarterback position is currently unsettled ahead of the fall. That’s the biggest question mark on a talented team.

But Finebaum is curious if Alabama will lean towards the team that won close games last season or lost close ones.

“I think the conundrum at Alabama is (they have) enormous talent, they’re still recruiting at a very elite level, but … what happens now,” Finebaum said to Matt Barrie on ESPN’s YouTube channel. And I think you have to have an honest conversation. For a podcast like this, unlike SportsCenter, unlike what I do, you don’t have to put the guest on and he doesn’t have to say what Nick Saban is. We all know that we all know who Nick Saban is. The question is where is he today?”

Saban is considered the great college football coach of all time. But that much is already known and said every year.

Does that carry weight again in 2023 when it comes to his team’s success? Or are we seeing the beginning of the end?

“And I feel confident about Alabama this fall,” Finebaum said. “But for all of those people who say well, they only lost two games last year on the last play, they’re not telling the truth. The real picture is they also won two games on the last play and won another game in the last 45 seconds. And it could have gone badly, it didn’t. 

“So Nick Saban escaped. He’s brilliant at that. And now what happens? And I couldn’t tell you about Tyler Buchner. I don’t have enough data to give you an honest opinion. I mean, I know what he’s good at and I know what he’s bad at. (Offensive coordinator) Tommy Rees, same thing. I’ll spare you what you already know. Puzzling is being charitable.”

Saban questioned if the teams in front of Alabama last season were better. The four teams were Georgia, Michigan, TCU and Ohio State that made the playoff.

To Finebaum’s point, the results for the Crimson Tide could’ve went either way.

“Does that mean they have a better team,” Saban said. “Or does it mean that those people don’t know what they’re talking about? I really don’t know that. But I’m not being critical of anybody. But if you’re going to have parity, you have to have a better way of figuring out who has the best teams, not just because you lose two games on the last play of the game.

“That knocks you out when you may be better than somebody else who didn’t have the same circumstances that they had played.”

Does that indicate that was Alabama’s last great shot? This next season will tell the story.

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