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Paul Finebaum names CFP team with no chance at a title
Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports

The 12-team College Football Playoff kicks off this weekend, with the first-round games beginning on Friday. Meanwhile, four teams will have to wait to find out their opponents for the quarterfinals, having earned byes for winning their respective conferences.

One of those teams is the No. 3 Boise State Broncos (12-1), which won the Mountain West and is the third-highest-ranked conference champion. The Broncos will await the winner of the No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions (11-2) and the SMU Mustangs (11-2). 

The Broncos are enjoying an outstanding season under the leadership of head coach Spencer Danielson and running back Ashton Jeanty. Jeanty secured the second spot for the Heisman Trophy after amassing 2,497 rushing yards and scoring 29 touchdowns. He is only 132 yards shy of eclipsing Oklahoma State Cowboys' Barry Sanders’ all-time single-season yardage record. 

Despite a strong season, Paul Finebaum stated on "The Paul Finebaum Show" that Boise State has no chance of winning a national championship.

"Boise State's got a really good team, but they're small," Finebaum said. "There is no way that they could deal with the best of this bracket."

ESPN's Football Power Index aligns closely with Finebaum's views, offering the Broncos a 1.8% chance of winning the national championship. This figure, tied with the Arizona State Sun Devils, is higher only than that of the No. 12 ranked Clemson Tigers (10-3) among playoff teams. Nevertheless, the FPI places Boise State at No. 25 in the country, marking it the lowest rank of any playoff contender.

This season, the Broncos faced one playoff contender when they took on the No. 1 Oregon Ducks (13-0) on the road. The game ended in a close 37-34 loss for the Broncos. Jeanty impressively rushed for 192 yards and scored three touchdowns. Notably, the Broncos outgained the Ducks, recording 369 yards compared to Oregon's 352, forcing two turnovers. 

However, special teams proved crucial; in the fourth quarter, Oregon tied the game at 34 with a touchdown on a 100-yard kickoff return. Subsequently, they secured the victory with a 25-yard field goal as time expired. Earlier in the game, Oregon also scored on an 85-yard punt return for a touchdown.

This week, Boise State will take a break before gearing up for its first playoff game on Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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