Paul Finebaum warns SEC about watering down football product in future expansion

In conference realignment the sport that gets the most focus is football. That’s because it generates the most revenue. It also happens to be the sport the SEC is known for. Because of this, Paul Finebaum thinks that the conference needs to be careful.

During an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, Finebaum explained that the SEC needs to be careful about watering down its football product.

“I think you better be concerned about it, Greg, because of all the things that have been discussed but also because of where we’re going,” Paul Finebaum said. “I think what we saw with Stanford and California and Oregon State and Washington State being left home as we’re living in a new world order of college athletics and you better be good, you better be attractive, and just grabbing.”

One of the examples of a school the SEC might add was Virginia, which would open a new market for the SEC even though the football product hasn’t been at the top end of the ACC.

“I mean one of the worst moves in modern college football history has been the Big Ten taking Rutgers. I mean, it’s been an abject disaster. You won’t see anything like that again because why did they take Rutgers? Because they mistakenly assumed that they could grab into the New York television market. Never happened.”

Football is, ultimately, the driving force in conference realignment. That’s what generates revenue and it takes programs of a certain level to earn more eyeballs for a conference. Rutgers may have found success in sports outside of football. However, they’ve been bad in football, which creates a perception around the entire athletic department and keeps people from watching.

“Just like people are trying to sell SMU and Dallas. I don’t need to educate you on that. Hey, there’s a handful of people that will watch it, but there’s probably four or five or six other schools. So, you have to be careful when you’re making these moves and I think the smaller schools are going to get squeezed if the SEC moves on.”

For Paul Finebaum, only two schools make sense for the SEC, Florida State and Clemson.

“Now, I think there are only two on the board with the SEC that would not dilute the product and those would be Clemson and Florida State. After that, I think you have a legitimate argument. What does North Carolina bring to the table and what does Miami bring to the table, or Virginia, or even Virginia Tech? They all have niches but I don’t think they hold a candle to the other two.”

Paul Finebaum says Florida State and Clemson are perfect fits for the SEC

Paul Finebaum does think that Clemson and Florida State make sense for the SEC. However, it’s a difficult question.

“I believe Clemson does want out of the ACC. It has become problematic for Dabo Swinney and Florida State and Miami and others to compete against the SEC. I know some people are saying, ‘well you’re the SEC mouthpiece.’ I’m not saying it. The ACC coaches are saying that to people. They may win some battles, but they’re losing most of the battles against the Nick Sabans and the Kirby Smarts. And now you have Ohio State and Michigan and Southern Cal,” Finebaum said.

“So they need to do something. If enough of them decide, ‘You know what, we’re done with the ACC.’ It would force the ACC’s hand. But right now the ACC has to try to figure out a survival plan and singing ‘Kum Ba Yah,’ which is all the commissioner has done so far, will not be the answer. If you look at Clemson and Florida State, there are no two better fits in the world to the SEC than those two. I mean they’ve won national championships in the last 10 years. They recruit at the highest level, they have good coaches, they have phenomenal traditions, and they’re both in states with SEC schools.”