Paul Finebaum credits SEC for creating excitement around 2024 schedule

Paul Finebaum credited the SEC for its new schedule and release, which included new members Texas and Oklahoma. 

While the conference did not expand to nine conference games on the schedule, Finebaum thought it was nearly flawless. For what SEC revealed, it’s a pretty solid schedule all things considered.

That’s despite some annual games being turned over and not being played in 2024.

“I think they’ll get over it very quickly because I thought the SEC did a spectacular job of balancing it, creating excitement and really calming everyone down,” Finebaum said on McElroy and Cubelic. “In relation to the eight, nine debate, we can go through a lot of games and find misses in terms of what we could have had … Auburn-LSU has always been a must see game. But you have to balance it with eight games and I think that’s really why the SEC will eventually, if not next year (for ‘25), move to nine (conference games). 

For what the SEC had to balance and what was at stake, basically public perception, Finebaum said the SEC schedule nailed it.

“But under the circumstances, I don’t know how they could have done any better,” Finebaum said. “And I also think they just flattened the hysterical critics out there who viciously and personally attacked the commissioner and others in the SEC as if they had completely blown it. I felt genuine excitement Wednesday night. 

“It was completely different than anything I’ve ever been a part of. And while you miss something, you’re always going to miss something when you add two schools and don’t add any more games, I found virtually no fault with what we saw.”

The debate between an eight-game model and a nine-game format was one of the hottest topics of conversation this week. Although Sankey confirmed the decision was unanimous, it wasn’t an easy one.

It also featured plenty of presentations regarding the new SEC schedule.

“I’ve seen enough PowerPoint slides to last me the rest of the year, Paul,” commissioner Greg Sankey said on The Paul Finebaum Show earlier this month. “So, understand that. That’s part of our reality. I was asked yesterday about it, ‘Was there enough information provided?’ I was like, ‘I don’t think anybody needs any more slides or any more pieces of paper.’”

There was one important factor in their decision, though. As the College Football Playoff prepares to expand — something Sankey noted in his initial statement on the eight-game schedule — strength of schedule was going to be key. That was something the SEC kept at a high level with the East-West divisional model, but it was essential to whatever move came next with so many changes in college football.