With the implementation of the College Football Playoff, fans and analysts have shifted their focus from regular season accomplishments and conference titles to something else — how far did you make it in the CFP?
With the field expanding to 12 teams last season, all four conference champions received an automatic bid to the dance, with another non-power five team making it in and seven at-large teams, leaving more room for error in the regular season.
Paul Finebaum Criticizes What New CFP Means for Regular Season
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum joined “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning” to voice his concerns on the matter, pointing out that while Georgia won the SEC Championship, their season was viewed as a disappointment because they only made the CFP Quarterfinal.
“I was talking to Kirby Smart and I was trying to make a point about some caller who asked me what was wrong with Georgia,” Finebaum said. “I made the point to Kirby that I said, ‘Hey, it’s not that bad. They did win the SEC Championship.’ He looked at me and said, ‘Well, you seem to have forgotten that too.’ It’s a double-edged dancer.
“Unfortunately, the CFP is so big now and so important that it has negated what I thought was sacrosanct and that is the SEC Championship. It used to be the mantra at the beginning of the year. ‘We’re not trying to win anything other than the SEC Championship.’
“And I sincerely doubt many Georgia fans or players felt all that great when they were packing up from the dome on Jan. 1 after losing to Notre Dame and they told their parents, their friends and their girlfriends, ‘Hey, we’re still SEC champions.’ It’s been diluted as much as I hate that.”
Up until last year, winning a conference title didn’t guarantee national title contention, with FSU notably going 13-0 and winning the ACC Championship only to finish as the No. 6 team in the CFP poll, missing out on the playoff.
While in the past teams might have celebrated the accomplishment, now teams care more about the CFP, with Finebaum noting that despite Texas losing to Georgia in the SEC Championship, they made the CFP Semifinal, thus making their season feel more successful.
“Listen, I’m a purist and a traditionalist and I’m as old school as you can get in today’s media, but as much as we love that game and it’s been celebrated and the memories from there are enough to fill 10 ‘30 for 30s,’ the problem is that there’s something more important to play for the next week,” Finebaum said.
“If you go out the next week and lose an opening round game, that SEC Championship game won’t carry very far. Clemson is proud to have won the ACC. Why? Because it got them in the CFP. If that’s what the case is, it’s more important.
“But last year, you had the two best teams playing again. When it was over, it was a big win for Georgia because I think it gave them the first round bye. But Texas also wasn’t in that bad of shape. They got to go home and play, some would say, inferior teams.
“I think it’s a debate that goes on and on, but as much as we all love it, I don’t think we’re going to be able to defend it much longer.”
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With the NCAA still working out the kinks of the CFP — and potentially expanding to 16 teams — it’s going to take some time to get used to.
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