With the SEC set to add Oklahoma and Texas in the coming years, the country’s other major conferences are trying to figure out how to respond.
According to multiple reports, the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 have discussed forming an “alliance.” It’s unclear what exactly the “alliance” would do, but the conferences likely believe it would strengthen their footing when it comes to scheduling, TV deals, etc.
Paul Finebaum isn’t a fan of it, though.
The ESPN college football analyst had a blunt response to the speculation on Monday.
What does a potential Pac-12 + Big 12 + Big Ten Alliance mean for the SEC? @finebaum joined @macandcube to give his thoughts and explain why it may not be a big concern… pic.twitter.com/gnJKm8u2QY
— WJOX 94.5 FM (@WJOX945) August 16, 2021
“I think it’s a desperate move that signifies absolutely zero,” he said. “What difference does it make if the ACC, the Big Ten, the Pac-12 and anyone else schedule games? That already happens. It doesn’t affect the most important aspect of the Texas-Oklahoma move. The SEC has simply left everyone else in the dust and has the first true super-conference and the biggest brands and the best value in college football. You can get all the games you want between Southern Cal and North Carolina and Clemson and Michigan, and so what? We already have these types of games. We’re two-and-a-half weeks away from Clemson-Georgia, Ohio State-Oregon, Michigan-Washington — these games are already on the schedule.
“And, once the 12-team Playoff shows up, whenever that is, it’s going to make all this stuff even more obsolete. If you’re sitting there in all these other leagues, you’ve looked at the map, you’ve tried to do the math. There’s simply no move. The Big 12 doesn’t have a move. The ACC, short of Notre Dame changing its mind, doesn’t have a move. And the Big Ten certainly doesn’t have a move. You meet with your colleagues, you come up with contingency plans. You try to do anything you can to blame one person for every single thing that has happened. You try to blow up a 12-team Playoff because of one person, and that one person is Greg Sankey.
“Quite frankly, all Greg Sankey did was take a phone call. That’s all he did. He didn’t conspire. He didn’t try to manipulate the system. He played within the rules of the College Football Playoff. He met with the other 3 gentlemen on the committee, and he gets all the blame for everything. Everyone also wants to blame ESPN and say let’s open it up to FOX in 4 or 5 years, and they accomplished nothing. … This drives me crazy. The Pac-12 needs the 12-team Playoff more than anyone else. The Big Ten could use it. The ACC has done OK with Clemson, and the SEC is assured a spot every year, so what do they care?”
Well, Finebaum has certainly made his point clear. It will be interesting to see what the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 do moving forward.
The post Paul Finebaum Reacts To Latest Major Conference Speculation appeared first on The Spun.
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