"National championship hangover is going to get to them": Paul Finebaum ditches Ryan Day with blunt take on preseason AP Poll top 25 rankings

The AP preseason top 25 poll was released on Monday. Texas came in at No. 1 with 25 first-place votes, followed by Penn State at No. 2 with 23. Ryan Day's defending national champion Ohio State was ranked at No. 3 with 11 votes. Clemson, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon, Alabama, LSU and Miami rounded out the top 10.

But not everyone agrees with the rankings, least of all ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum.

“Ohio State is too high and … Alabama is too low,” the analyst said on Tuesday’s episode of “Get Up” (Timestamp: 00:30). “I really think Alabama is a serious national championship contender, and I don't get Ohio State at all.

"I know they won the national championship last year," Paul Finebaum added. "That has nothing to do with it. They don't have the same team, and that national championship hangover is going to get to them. So we'll see that in about two and a half weeks when Texas gets up there and walks out of that stadium a winner.”

What Paul Finebaum said makes the Week 1 game between Texas and Ohio State even more interesting. The Longhorns will travel to Columbus on Aug. 30 to take on the Buckeyes. It will be a rematch of last year’s College Football Playoff semifinal, where Ohio State defeated Texas 28-14 on its way to a national title.

However, this year’s version of Ohio State is not the same, as the team will return only five starters on offense and three on defense.

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Championship chances of teams mentioned by Paul Finebaum

With either Julian Sayin or Lincoln Kienholz expected to start in 2025, the Buckeyes will be breaking in their third starting quarterback in many years. The team still has wide receiver Jeremiah Smith at its disposal. ESPN’s FPI ranks Ohio State at No. 3 with a 70.6% chance of making the playoff and an 11.6% possibility of winning the championship.

Meanwhile, for Texas the momentum has been building steadily under Steve Sarkisian. Since a 5-7 record in 2021, the Longhorns have won 25 of their last 30 games, reached back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinals and played in the SEC championship in their debut season in the conference.

ESPN’s FPI has them at the top of its list, with an 83.9% chance of making the playoff and a 22.2% possibility of earning the national title.

Alabama is just below Ohio State in the FPI rankings, with a 66.2% chance of getting a ticket to CFP and a 10.4% possibility at the championship. The Crimson Tide will return 64% of their production from 2024, combined with strong recruiting, which Paul Finebaum believes will be the Tide's saving grace in 2025.