Paul Finebaum shows why 24-team College Football Playoff is too much

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It’s no secret that the College Football Playoff is looking to expand from 12 teams, but Paul Finebaum wants everyone to pump the brakes.

The CFP has been at 12 teams for the last two seasons. But there has been momentum to expand it to 16 teams or even 24 teams. For example, Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti said on Tuesday that a 24-team tournament is gaining traction.

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“I think there’s been a lot of movement among coaches and ADs around the country that 24 is the right number,” Petitti said.

ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum saw that quote and disagreed with Petitti on Wednesday’s edition of “Get Up.”

“He’s a really smart guy. He’s got a law degree from Harvard, but he’s completely wrong about the regular season. I don’t understand how 8-4 teams playing in November are going to draw big numbers on TV,” Finebaum said. “You devalue the regular season, and college football has the best regular season in sports because until three years ago, there were only four teams in the playoffs. Now there’s 12, and if you suddenly go to 24, you’re letting a lot of really average teams get a bid to the CFP as opposed to a bid to the ReliaQuest Bowl, and that’s not what playing for a championship game is all about.”

Finebaum isn’t wrong about any of this. If a 24-team CFP does happen, it will probably lead to more blowouts in the early rounds. There would be teams in there that probably don’t deserve it.

Twelve is a perfect sweet spot for this tournament, but it may not stay that way for long.

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