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Paul Finebaum takes firm stand on College Football Playoff debate

Joe Cox|
Paul Finebaum shared an interesting take on the College Football Playoff field composition on ESPN's First Take.
Paul Finebaum shared an interesting take on the College Football Playoff field composition on ESPN's First Take. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

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Boise State Broncos

ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum is all about the SEC, but he took a position on the College Football Playoff that's radical even for a hardline SEC guy. Speaking about the Playoff race on ESPN's First Take, Finebaum dropped a controversial angle. That point? Take the Group of Five teams out of the picture entirely. In discussion whether the SEC deserved six CFP teams, Finebaum argues that the Group of Five should have none.

Finebaum slams the Group of Five

What is wrong with this country? Let's put a couple of people over here in. Let's put a couple of people-- What about putting the best in? I don't see Major League Baseball, I don't see the NFL going, 'Ah, the Chiefs, they've been there too many times. Let's put the Patriots in.'.... This is supposed to be about excellence, not about being fair.... It's already a convoluted system because we let the Group of whatever in, the Group of Five with South Florida. That division really has no business playing. That's like letting the AAA best team in to the Major League playoffs. It doesn't happen in any other sport.
Paul Finebaum

Group of Five History

Finebaum's take is certainly interesting despite the SEC's failure to win the CFP in either of the last two seasons. Under the old four-team CFP system, a Group of Five team was guaranteed a spot in a major New Year's Day bowl game. That arrangement lasted ten years and the Group of Five teams posted a 4-6 mark in that run. The Group of Five teams that won major bowl games were Boise State, a pre-Big 12 Houston, Central Florida, and Tulane. Three of the six Group of Five major bowl losses were one-score defeats.

But in 2024, with the CFP moving to a 12-team format, a fifth conference champion was guaranteed a spot in the Playoff. Last season, it was Boise State, who had to be seeded into the first round as one of the top four ranked league champions. Boise was seeded No. 3 and thus faced Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl, taking a 31-14 loss.

In 2025, while the five league champions will again receive invites, the Group of Five champion will be seeded with the other teams, likely at or near the bottom of the 12-team field.

The SEC's CFP situation

The SEC placed three teams in the 2024 field, posting a combined 2-3 mark, with Texas sticking around the longest before losing in a semifinal to Ohio State. Most projections have at least four SEC teams making the CFP field in 2025, with five plausible and six even a possibility depending on how other league reaces shape up. But Finebaum's proposal would certainly open up some more space.

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Joe Cox
JOE COX

Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.

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