Paul Finebaum Rips 24-Team College Football Playoff Idea With Blunt Warning

Paul Finebaum is not buying the idea of a 24-team College Football Playoff. As the sport continues to shift more and more of its attention toward the postseason, Finebaum believes expanding the field that far could come at a serious cost.

For him, the danger is not just adding more playoff games. It is what that does to the regular season, which has long been the thing that made college football feel different from every other sport. In Finebaum's view, going too big could dilute the stakes that make Saturdays matter.

While appearing on the latest episode of ‘Get Up' he said, "Twenty-four is the worst possibility I think in the history of this game. ... It is going to devalue, dilute and perhaps destroy the greatest football season of them all."

"Twenty-four is the worst possibility I think in the history of this game. ... It is going to devalue, dilute and perhaps destroy the greatest football season of them all."@finebaum believes that the CFP expanding will harm the value of the regular season pic.twitter.com/EZOTuQxBXV

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) May 14, 2026

He went on to add, "The big games at the end of the season are going to be meaningless, this is not the NFL where you try to position for a wild card or home field. There just simply aren't enough good teams."

Why a 24 Team CFP Season Does Not Make Sense

A 24-team College Football Playoff sounds exciting on the surface, but it also feels like the kind of move that could change the sport's identity completely.

The argument for expansion is obvious. More teams get in, fewer programs feel cheated, and more fanbases stay interested deeper into the season. Conferences outside the SEC and Big Ten would also get a better chance to place multiple teams in the field, which is why the idea is gaining support. But the downside is hard to ignore.

College football has always had a different kind of tension because the regular season carried so much weight. A September loss could matter. A rivalry game could ruin a season. One upset could change the entire national title picture. That pressure is what made the sport feel chaotic and special.

With 24 teams, that edge could soften. Big programs may feel safer, schedules could become less ambitious, and the regular season might start to feel more like playoff positioning rather than a weekly elimination test.

There is also the question of whether the playoff itself becomes too bloated. At some point, adding more teams does not automatically make the product better. It just makes the path longer.

Expansion may be coming eventually, but 24 teams feels like a huge gamble. It might create more inclusion, but it could also water down the very thing people loved about college football.

Related: College GameDay's Reported Week 1 Location Announcement Sends Fans Into Frenzy

Copyright 2026 Athlon Sports. All rights reserved.

This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 11:29 AM.