Paul Finebaum advocates cutting specific programs from College Football Playoff

Paul Finebaum has seen enough of these schools in the College Football Playoff and wants to see a change in the format going forward. Does he have a point?

Ken Ruinard / staff via Imagn Content Services, LLC

The inclusion or exclusion of the Group of Five from the College Football Playoff remains a point of contention among fans and analysts after another couple of routs during this year’s first-round games over the weekend.

And after watching Tulane get crushed by Ole Miss, and then James Madison get dominated by Oregon, the exclusionists are taking a victory lap.

Among them is Paul Finebaum, who after watching the events of the first round, has decidedly seen enough of this experiment.

‘They didn’t look good’

“We’re not sitting here trying to say they look good, because they didn’t,” Finebaum said on ESPN’s First Take program. 

“JMU was down by 31, Oregon had already left the game and let them mop up to cover the spread.”

"Yes, yes, yes!" 😳@finebaum on if G5 teams should be left out of the CFP going forward ✍️ pic.twitter.com/R9my1AzHu8

— First Take (@FirstTake) December 22, 2025

Ole Miss plastered Tulane in a rematch by a 41-10 count and didn’t even let the Green Wave score a touchdown until the fourth quarter.

Oregon opened up a 48-13 lead on James Madison in the third quarter before the Group of Five challenger went on a 17-3 run late in the game to make it look closer in a 51-34 loss.

Not good enough, Finebaum said.

“The games were unwatchable, and I don’t know very many people who want to see these schools in [the playoff],” he added. 

College football wants the G5 to feel included

Aside from the fans of those schools, college football’s decision makers felt like not only expanding the postseason field, but increasing the number of paths to make it.

Fairness and access are the watchwords from the College Football Playoff when it comes to allowing non-Power Four schools a chance to qualify for the field.

“I’m well aware there’s arguments, ‘Hey, even in the NFL, the NFC South winner gets into the playoff.’ But they’re professional teams on the same level,” Finebaum said. 

“JMU and Tulane are the elite of that division, but they’re still not anywhere near the same page [as the Power Four].”

Routs aren't a Group of Five monopoly

While the overmatched Group of Five teams often get most of the attention when it comes to College Football Playoff blowouts, the truth remains that plenty of Power Four schools get clocked in the playoff, too.

Georgia smashed TCU in a 65-7 result that was the biggest postseason rout in college football history. And that was for a national championship.

Oregon decked Florida State by a 59-20 count in the first semifinal. Alabama smashed Michigan State in a 38-0 Cotton Bowl. LSU destroyed Oklahoma by a 63-28 number in a 2019 semifinal with Joe Burrow at the wheel.

Alabama pasted Ohio State in a 52-24 result for a national title. And the Crimson Tide itself was the victim of a 44-16 shellacking in another title bout against Clemson, the worst loss for Nick Saban in his career.

Ohio State beat up on Tennessee in a 42-17 beatdown in the first round last year. Clemson rolled over Notre Dame in a 30-3 semifinal, and Penn State demolished SMU in a 38-10 first round game a year ago. This is a very common occurrence.

Still, Finebaum is done with the 'hypocrisy'

“We could go through the SEC and probably find quite a few schools who could beat both with one hand behind their back,” Finebaum said. 

“It is just an absolute hypocrisy to have to deal with this every year. This year, there shouldn’t have been two in, but the ACC was asleep at the wheel with the tiebreaker system. I don’t want to watch one. 

“And I know we oughta sing ‘Kumbaya.’ It’s Christmas, and I don’t want to be the Grinch who stole Christmas, but get these schools and get these conferences out of my way.

“I don’t want to see them anymore. I want to see the best 16, 12, whatever the number is... I still don’t want to see them if we have 28.”