College Football Playoff expansion talks have remained stagnant in recent weeks as the sport’s key figures continue to disagree on a path forward. Earlier this month, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips took one of the most definitive stances yet, revealing on a conference call that the ACC is “very aligned” in opposing playoff expansion.
The comments made many believe that CFP expansion talks were dead in the water, but Paul Finebaum has a different view on the matter.
This week, the ESPN host spoke about Phillips’ recent comments in opposition to expansion, by putting the spotlight on SEC commissioner Greg Sankey. Finebaum explained that he thinks the SEC commissioner is an interesting position with expansion talks stalling out.
“He was doing what he was told to do … I think we are going to get there ultimately, and I know the headlines out of Phillips’ comments were ‘CFP expansion is dead,’” Finebaum said Wednesday on WJOX-FM in Birmingham. “I still don’t believe it is completely dead, but I think Greg Sankey is in a really interesting position here. He went along with everyone else trying to be an agent of compromise when it really wasn’t helping his league. And now I think by his comment the other day in Georgia when he asked the crowd ‘do you think the four-team playoff worked pretty well?’ — He’s essentially throwing salt in their eyes saying ‘we really don’t care.’ We have beaten you every way to Sunday with the BCS, CFP and we are going to continue to do that.”
Our guy @Finebaum on CFB expansion and @AuburnMBB inching towards the top spot of college basketball https://t.co/CgliK1tehN
— McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning (@macandcube) January 17, 2022
Without much progress in the negotiations, Finebaum believes that some of the top programs around the country could begin to look for “an exit strategy.” Oklahoma and Texas are already on their way to the SEC and the ESPN host thinks more schools could explore making a similar move.
“When Texas and Oklahoma joined the SEC back in the summer, I thought that was it (for realignment),” Finebaum continued. “I don’t think that’s the case anymore. I think the SEC is in such a strong position and I think the world of college football is so upside down based on the attitude like Jim Phillips, Kevin Warren from the Big Ten and George Kliavkoff from the Pac-12 that I think others are going to look for an exit strategy. Instead of wasting time instead of the College Football Playoff, you have some major universities going ‘you know what, what good is this doing us staying in our league that refuses and will not accept change? Let’s call the SEC, see what the dollar amount is and get out of where we are.’
“If you’re sitting there in a Notre Dame position, why do you join the ACC with that approach? And if you’re Clemson or some of these other schools — Florida State in particular — you have to be asking yourself ‘why don’t we join a super league and really say who cares what the rest of college football does? We’re joining the only conference that matters.’”
The latest meeting to discuss playoff expansion took place during the second week of January in Indianapolis ahead of the national championship game. The current playoff deal, with its four-team format, is set to expire after the 2025 season.
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