SEC, Big Ten should rule college football, Paul Finebaum says

The outsized power the SEC and Big Ten have over the future of college football is so clear that the two conferences should just use that control of the sport despite what anyone else has to say.

That’s the opinion of long-time SEC observer Paul Finebaum, who said the leagues should take the power they have and use it.

“What I took away from three days in Destin was that the SEC has finally decided it’s sick and tired of waiting and worrying and trying to deal with the rest of college sports,” Finebaum said on WJOX Radio.

“And I was really impressed when Greg Sankey told us... that everything we have to do, doesn’t have to be unanimous. We all know what that meant.

“And I’m not suggesting a secession, but I am suggesting that it’s time that the Big Ten and the SEC, who apparently are aligned very well, do what they want to do.”

What they apparently want to do is use their combined negotiating power to reshape the College Football Playoff format in a way to their advantage.

The current expectation is that any expanded playoff could feature four automatic qualifiers each for the SEC and Big Ten, taking up half of a proposed 16-team tournament by themselves.

Two automatic places would be awarded to the ACC and Big 12 each, followed by one for the best Group of Six team, and the remaining three at-large bids.

That plan has expectedly been met with widespread disapproval, especially from the ACC and Big 12, including Miami head coach Mario Cristobal, who condemned the idea of awarding places that aren’t earned on the field.

Unfortunately, any attempt to stop the SEC and Big Ten from using their influence to redesign the playoff may prove futile before it’s mounted.

That’s because of a “memorandum of understanding” that was signed last year, giving college football’s Big Two leagues almost complete control over the playoff format.

Even so, there may be a change of opinion brewing in the SEC on the question of who should automatically qualify for the playoff.

Yahoo Sports reported that the SEC is considering moving away from its endorsement of the four automatic qualifiers, and could adopt the so-called 5-11 model that awarded guaranteed playoff bids to five conference champions and hands out 11 at-large bids to other teams.

Either way, the clear power the SEC and Big Ten have over the process is so clear that they should just disregard what any other conference has to say about it.

“If the rest of college sports doesn’t like it, too bad. You can join us or not. But I’m so sick of hearing all these proposals to make sure that everybody in the room gets something. This is not little league baseball,” Finebaum said. 

“This is the absolute zenith of college football, and it should be treated that way, as opposed to making sure everybody gets a third place ribbon.”

(Finebaum)

--

Read