Paul Finebaum doubles down on preseason SEC champion prediction

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The Georgia Bulldogs have won three consecutive SEC titles, and they are far and away the favorite to win a fourth, according to the preseason SEC media poll.

However, ESPN host Paul Finebaum — no stranger to covering the league — has a dissenting opinion on the matter. Finebaum thinks Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns will finally get over the hump and win an SEC title in their third season in the conference.

"I do think this is Sarkisian's year," Finebaum said during an appearance on "Crain & Cone."

Finebaum added that he doesn't think an SEC title is Sarkisian's ultimate goal, nor is it the top priority for UGA and Kirby Smart.

"I don't think that's the ultimate goal for him, and quite frankly, it shouldn't be the ultimate goal for Kirby Smart," he said. "I've been in Atlanta a lot, I've been in Athens a lot the last couple years, I've yet to see an SEC championship banner on anybody's car or in front of anybody's house. As important as we want to make that game out to be, for schools like Georgia and Texas, the ultimate goal is winning it all.

"I think Kirby, in the back of his mind, he's not going into Atlanta going 'OK, we don't want to win that,' but I think he'll take a longer trip into January this year over holding up that trophy the first Saturday of December in Atlanta."

Finebaum has previously said that Texas is his SEC championship pick, telling "The Film Guy Network" last month that he's putting his faith in the Longhorns.

"I was wrong last year on that, and I don't care if I'm wrong or not," Finebaum said at SEC Media Days last month. "I always love college guys who say, 'I could be wrong.' No kidding."

Sarkisian has won 35 games at Texas over the last three seasons, but his only conference title came in 2023 when the Longhorns were still a member of the Big 12. With a loaded roster and a potential preseason No. 1 ranking, he'll hope he can finally capture that elusive first SEC title this season.

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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Paul Finebaum doubles down on preseason SEC champion prediction

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