Paul Finebaum calls from removal of Group of Five schools from Playoff consideration
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Paul Finebaum didn’t hold back on his feelings about Tulane and James Madison making the College Football Playoff.
Of course, the five highest-ranked conference champions make the field. That means the SEC and Big Ten are all but guaranteed a berth, with the Big 12 sending Texas Tech this season. However, the American and Sun Belt’s champions — Tulane and James Madison, respectively — received autobids as well.
Some across the country may see this as a feel-good story. Not Finebaum.
“It’s time to get rid of the G5 schools,” Finebaum said on Tuesday’s “Get Up” on ESPN. “And I know how they got in there. 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. This is great in the NCAA basketball tournament (where) there are 68 schools. There are only 12 here. And we don’t need them around.”
While Finebaum wants a Playoff without teams from the Group of Five, not one, but two, are in the field in 2025. And, for the foreseeable future, the door is open for at least one team outside of the four most powerful conferences in the country to make it in each year.
That prospect clearly doesn’t sit well with Finebaum.
“I don’t really care about Tulane or James Madison. They’re both going to lose by 25 to 45 points. They’ll be unwatchable games (so) get them out of a Playoff,” he said.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
