Paul Finebaum has a bittersweet opinion on teams that shouldn't be in college football playoffs: "But let's quit kidding around"

CFB analyst Paul Finebaum had a rather interesting take when it came to talking about the new 12-team playoff format to be implemented at the start of the upcoming season.

Finebaum also shared his opinion on the adoption of the 5+7 model. The first five playoff spots go to the highest-ranked conference champions followed by the remaining seven spots going to the highest-ranked teams.

While making a recent appearance on the 'McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning' show, Paul Finebaum talked about how he believed that the group of five schools from the AAC, C-USA, MAC, Mountain West and Sun Belt Conferences should not be eligible to participate in the playoffs. With the adoption of the new format, one school from the group of five is guaranteed a spot in the college football playoffs.

Paul Finebaum then went on to suggest that there should be a different championship for the group of five schools. He justified this statement by saying that this would provide these programs with a more realistic chance of winning a championship.

"But let's quit kidding around. We have the haves and have-nots now, and for the Group of Five now, they don't need to be bidding for that one spot. I think they would be a lot happier, and their fanbases would be a lot happier trying to have their own championships."

"But the fact of the matter is that they have played great football, and they have been outliers and have made noise occasionally. But the Group of Five just simply doesn't belong in the same tournament with the SEC and the Big Ten."

Since the introduction of the four-team playoff format in 2014, only one team from the group of five has made it to the playoffs. This was in 2021, when the Cincinnati Bearcats emerged as the No. 4 ranked team while winning the AAC Championship. They eventually lost to Alabama by a 27-6 scoreline in the semifinals.

Cincinnati then went on to become members of the Big 12 ahead of the 2023 season, where they finished with a disappointing 3-9 record last campaign.

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Paul Finebaum is not confident about the Florida Gators winning seven games in 2024

The Florida Gators were once a dominant team in the SEC. But recent years have not been very successful for them. Billy Napier took over as head coach in 2022. So far during his two-season stint, Napier has led the Gators to a disappointing 11-14 record while failing to qualify for the bowl game last season.

While talking about the Gators on a recent episode of his show, Paul Finebaum talked about the possibility of the Gators struggling to win seven games during the 2024 season. He also stated that expecting the team to win seven games might be too far of a stretch given their current performance.

"Let's say it's seven wins. I don't see that but let's say it is just to be nice. Is seven wins enough to convince people that Billy Napier has the program, in year 3, on the right track?"

Do you agree with Paul Finebaum's analysis? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.