Paul Finebaum urges to cut specific programs from College Football Playoff

The historic inclusion of multiple smaller conference champions in the College Football Playoff has sparked intense debate over competitive balance, antitrust concerns, and the future of automatic qualifiers.

College football analyst Paul Finebaum argues against including G5 schools such as Tulane and James Madison in the College Football Playoff. | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

The final College Football Playoff bracket delivered a historic first for the sport on Sunday with the inclusion of two Group of Five programs in the 12-team field. The selection committee placed the Tulane Green Wave and the James Madison Dukes into the bracket as the two highest-ranked conference champions outside the Power Four structure. While this was a victory for accessibility, the decision came at a significant cost to some of the biggest brands in the sport.

High-profile programs like the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Alabama Crimson Tide were left on the outside looking in, sparking an immediate and intense debate regarding the fairness of the current format.

The inclusion of the No. 20 and No. 24-ranked teams (Tulane & JMU) over the No. 11-ranked team (Notre Dame) highlighted the tension between prioritizing conference champions and selecting the "best" teams available. This disparity has led to questions about whether the automatic qualifier system is sustainable in its current form.

The reaction to the bracket was swift, with critics arguing that the presence of smaller programs diminishes the quality of the postseason product. The sentiment among some in the sport is that the compromise to include lower-tier champions has created a flawed system that sacrifices competitive balance. As the dust settled on the announcement, calls for immediate revision to the postseason structure began to mount, setting the stage for a contentious upcoming offseason.

SEC Network personality predicts blowouts, calls for playoff revision

During the Tuesday broadcast of ESPN's Get Up, college football analyst Paul Finebaum offered a scathing assessment of the current playoff model. He told show host Mike Greenberg that the experiment of including Group of Five champions has failed and urged the sport's power brokers to alter the rules to prevent similar scenarios in future years. Finebaum argued that the average viewer has no interest in seeing these matchups.

"It is time to get rid of the G5 schools and I know how they got in there," Finebaum said. "It was a compromise, but America does not want to see Tulane, nor do we want to see James Madison in the College Football Playoff."

Before Jon Sumrall leaves Tulane to join the Florida Gators, he will coach the Green Wave in their College Football Playoff run. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Finebaum rejected comparisons to the NCAA men's basketball tournament, noting that the scarcity of spots in football makes the inclusion of lower-tier teams more damaging. He emphasized that with only 12 bids available, the field should remain exclusive to the elite programs. The analyst dismissed any need for politeness regarding the situation, predicting that the disparity in talent would be evident on the field.

"Greeny, there are 68 schools. There are only 12 here and we don't need them around," Finebaum said. "I am not going to give you the 'with all due respect' because I don't really care about Tulane or James Madison. They are both going to lose by 25 to 45 points. There will be unwatchable games and get them out of a playoff."

This viewpoint aligns with concerns raised by former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who argued that the committee should focus on getting the "12 best teams" into the field rather than adhering to rigid criteria. However, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt suggested that the inclusion of these schools might be less about football and more about legal preservation. Klatt theorized that the committee is insulating the playoff from potential antitrust litigation by ensuring access for non-power conferences.

"It's time to get rid of the G5 schools."@finebaum weighs in on what he would do to fix the CFP system 👀 pic.twitter.com/Q9k0BZIbNU

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) December 9, 2025

The ability to enact the changes Finebaum is demanding could arrive soon. Starting in 2026, the Big Ten and SEC commissioners will possess the voting power to push through format changes without unanimous consent from all FBS conferences.

The Green Wave will face Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 20, at 8 p.m. ET on TNT. On the same day, James Madison will play Oregon at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT.