Paul Finebaum: The SEC, Big Ten coming together puts other leagues behind

The SEC and Big Ten are expanding this summer, and are now coming together to create a joint advisory group of ADs and university presidents in an attempt to improve college athletics for the student-athlete.

Paul Finebuam, who has been an outspoken member of the SEC community throughout his career, explained what the two power conferences coming together means for what’s left of the Power Five Conferences, and the rest of college football.

“I think it puts everyone behind in everything, right? I mean, we already know those leagues are behind,” Finebaum said during an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning. “We’re really counting notes from generating income and revenue, but now it puts them really in an awkward position. And I think it further exposes how utterly stupid that decision was a couple of years ago, by the Big Ten, the Pac-12 and the ACC to form that alliance because that was supposed to solve a lot of problems. … That was always interpreted as a moved against the SEC because of what happened with Oklahoma and Texas.

“But ultimately that has come back to haunt especially the ACC because the Pac-12 really is no more other than a name. That’s a league that really has to figure itself out.”

Matters such as NIL, the transfer portal, and general rules and regulation have become the talk of collegiate sports. Whether due to the issues themselves or how the NCAA governs them, many have grown tired of the direction in which athletics at the level have been heading.

Now, the two most powerful conferences in the NCAA are coming together to better manage the student-athlete experience in the ever-changing landscape of college athletics in 2024.

“I’m glad to see the SEC and the Big Ten do this,” Finebaum continued. “There are tremendous rivalries, as we all know, but when you control the dollars and the minds of college athletics, you’re really in a good spot. Instead of sitting around and arguing and going to court and yelling at the NCAA, these two leagues really are like, the right and the left in Washington DC coming together to say, ‘Okay, we’re going to get some things done.'”

The SEC is set to add Texas and Oklahoma this offseason, while the Big Ten doubles that total with USC, UCLA, Oregon and the 2024 College Football Playoff runner-up in Washington. By that time, Finebuam believes the rest of college sports are going to be playing catch up to the SEC and Big Ten beginning this coming season.