Paul Finebaum controversially calls Army-Navy game being standalone 'a wasted Saturday'

There’s been a remarkably controversial opinion thrown out there about college football scheduling from various analysts in recent weeks. On Thursday, the SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum joined the chorus.

He’s calling for the Army–Navy game to be moved from the weekend after conference championship games to somewhere else on the calendar.

“Well we’re wasting a week, I know I’m going to upset somebody, but the week of the Army-Navy game needs to be the playoffs,” Finebaum said on The Matt Barrie Show. “That is a wasted Saturday. What do we have? We have the Army-Navy game and the Heisman. We can’t figure that out some other time?”

Prior to Finebaum weighing in, FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt was the most notable analyst to suggest moving the game, but his take immediately drew some harsh and vociferous backlash.

The Army-Navy game being played when it is allows a certain spotlight on the game, something both service academies appreciate quite a bit. It’s become a special event not just for the academies themselves, but for just about everyone currently or previously enlisted.

Still, Klatt called for a change, like Finebaum.

“I don’t think that we should have Army-Navy right after the conference championship games,” Klatt stated. “I believe that the Army-Navy game is one of the most special events that we have in our country. It’s one of the great football games on the planet, and it’s getting pinched where it’s at. I know it’s the traditional timeframe and point of season, but think about it — Army and Navy are now in a conference. Yet, their game doesn’t have any bearing on whether they’re going to the conference championship game or not, which we just saw this year with Navy. Then, they’ve got to play that game, which is, you know — it’s going to mean everything to them and should, because again, in a lot of ways, outside of the Rose Bowl, it’s the most historic college football game that we have.

“So what do we do with Army-Navy? It’s getting pinched by the Heisman. It’s getting pinched by the Playoff. We now play a bowl game on the same day. It’s not in the right spot. Army-Navy needs to start the football season. Week Zero of football. And mind you, I didn’t say college. I didn’t say the NFL. It’s because it’s both.”

For his part, Paul Finebaum seemed to be on board with that.

“I agree,” he told Barrie.