Paul Finebaum ‘queasy’ on Tennessee after Nico Iamaleava transfer

There’s plenty to talk about during the long college football offseason. And many of those discussions center around which teams might contend for a conference crown, Tennessee included.

Only, one ESPN analyst is no longer buying the Volunteers as a legitimate contender. Paul Finebaum explained why briefly while talking on the McElroy

What has changed? Well, quite a bit.

Tennessee lost starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who helped guide the team to the College Football Playoff during the 2024 campaign. Iamaleava ran into a stalemate with the powers that be in Knoxville over his NIL compensation.

He up and left for UCLA. Now Tennessee has to scramble to fill the void.

They’ve done so by snagging a recent transfer from, of all places, UCLA. Appalachian State quarterback Joey Aguilar initially transferred to UCLA in the offseason, only to bolt when Iamaleava made his plans clear. Now he will have a good shot at winning the Tennessee gig.

and Cubelic in the Morning radio program.

“On the other side I think Tennessee is the one that you have to be a little bit queasy about,” Finebaum said plainly. “I was buying into Tennessee after this season. I’m not anymore.”

Do the Volunteers have enough talent around him to replace what they lost a year ago and make another run at the playoffs? That remains to be seen. At the very least, though, Tennessee has some continuity on the coaching staff, and that should certainly help.

Still, the prominent ESPN analyst isn’t a big believer in Tennessee at this point. He made that much clear on the air.

So who is Paul Finebaum high on going into 2025? Well, one team he pegged to have a breakout season was LSU.

“Assuming they can get out of September, I think LSU is really in great shape,” Finebaum said. “I know they have to go to Tuscaloosa late in the year, but I don’t see a lot of losses on that schedule for them. And I think because of the Clemson game, here we go again, we did this with Georgia last year… LSU is one of those should they lose three games I think still is a CFP team.”