Paul Finebaum eviscerates Big Ten Media Days as a massive bust
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Paul Finebaum was not impressed by the messaging that came out of Big Ten Media Days last week. The event was held in Las Vegas last week, and shots at the SEC and the B1G’s preferred model for the College Football Playoff were the constant themes of the week.
On Monday, Finebaum made his appearance for “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning” and was asked about the event overall. He described the B1G’s trek into the desert as “a bust.” That involved B1G commissioner Tony Petitti and the rest of the league attempting to deliver a message that came across disastrously in the court of public opinion.
“I’m looking back at the 4 days of the Big Ten, and I’m going to tell you right now: It was a bust,” shredded Finebaum. “It was a bust from the beginning, and it was a bust all the way to the end, and it was a bust because it seems to me that Tony Petitti and his minions… tried to hand deliver a specific message that went over terribly.”
Part of the messaging involved Petitti tightening his view on a CFP model that involves play-in games and automatic qualifiers for each conference. However, even with the message going sideways, Finebaum said the biggest issue was holding media days in Las Vegas, a move that limited attendance across the board.
“Petitti started it off… he comes out and instead of broadening his approach (to the CFP), which is what Greg Sankey said 2 weeks ago today, Petitti was a lone wolf,” Finebaum described. “The biggest problem with last week wasn’t with what Petitti said or what the coaches said, it’s where it is being said. No one liked the idea of taking the media days to Las Vegas.”
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And, what of the endless shots at the SEC, delivered by Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti and others? Finebaum was unkind, saying Cignetti and other coaches came across as fools by trying to take shots at the SEC’s scheduling:
“The biggest issue all week was the messaging. Curt Cignetti… made a complete fool out of himself trying to try parallels, so did other coaches. It’s like Bret Bielema came up with the game plan about 5 weeks ago, and handed it out to his coaching buddies, and none of them delivered it well,” Finebaum criticized. “If you want to attack the SEC, there are places you can attack, but don’t try to attack on the strength of schedule and don’t try to attack on the nonconference games.”
For now, the B1G has the most recent last laugh after back-to-back national titles. The SEC will try to re-establish itself this fall, but the B1G will be even more insufferable if the conference claims a 3rd straight title.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
