Paul Finebaum has never been shy about saying what he thinks. The ESPN college football analyst was on his show this week and went after the people covering the sport. Not the coaches or the players, he addressed the media.

The ESPN analyst has been one of the loudest voices pushing back against the proposed expansion of the College Football Playoff from 12 teams to 24. He thinks the media is part of the problem, and he said so directly on The Paul Finebaum Show, per The Spun via Yahoo Sports.

"We've got a lot of stupid people covering college football," Finebaum said on the May 29 episode of the podcast. "If you make the playoffs, they're going to prop you up more. You heard it last year with 'Tennessee, made it, Alabama made it.' It doesn't matter what happened after they made it. I think it does matter."

The CFP is staying at 12 teams for 2026, but the push for 24 is still very much alive with the Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12 all backing it. The SEC is the only major conference still pumping the brakes. That whole debate is what set Finebaum off.

He did not hold back when describing the people he had a problem with. Finebaum's main argument is that making the playoff should not be viewed as a major accomplishment for elite programs. Instead, it should be viewed as the bare minimum.

He used Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart as his example of why just showing up is not good enough.

"You think Kirby Smart in a 24-team playoff is going to be happy if they lose in the first game?" Finebaum questioned. "Of course not. And neither are the Georgia fans."

His point was simple. Getting in is not the achievement. Winning is. And if the field goes to 24 teams, that argument becomes even harder to ignore.

Coaches Across the Country Have Been Weighing In Too

Big 12 coaches unanimously backed the 24-team model at their spring meetings in Frisco last week. West Virginia Mountaineers coach Rich Rodriguez said support among Big 12 coaches was completely unanimous, per ESPN.

Under the current format, only the Texas Tech Red Raiders made it from the conference last season. Under 24 teams, five Big 12 programs would have been in.

Clemson Tigers' Dabo Swinney backed it too, but admitted there is a real cost to going bigger.

"I don't love those things going away," Swinney said about conference championship games, per CBS Sports. "But I don't see any other path forward."

Smart himself took a different stance from most of his peers. He challenged coaches to stop thinking about personal gain and focus on what is actually good for the sport.

"It can't always be what's best for self-preservation. It has to be what's best for the game," Smart said, per Brett McMurphy via Dawn of the Dawg.

As debate heats up, what do you think about Finebaum's comments? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Farheen Fathima

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar