Paul Finebaum offers stark warning to College Football Playoff committee after SEC unveils future schedules

The SEC unveiled its future conference opponents through the 2029 season, giving fans an idea what they can expect for their teams as they try to compete for a College Football Playoff berth going forward. Many had an immediate shock reaction.

The schedules are tough. Really tough.

And it begs the question: Will that be rewarded? You could certainly make the case that powerful schedules were not rewarded a year ago by the College Football Playoff committee.

“This is supposed to be a night to celebrate where the SEC is,” ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum said. “But I’m getting angry listening to this conversation, because Greg (McElroy), we’re all dumbfounded by what we heard last year. We have laid a marker from the SEC at the feet of the CFP and they better deliver.”

The change made to the College Football Playoffs this year was for an advanced strength of schedule metric that is supposed to factor more heavily into the committee’s decisions. How that plays out in practice remains to be seen.

But you can count on the SEC being vocal if it doesn’t appear tough schedules are being rewarded. Because the conference has now set itself up to have some seriously tough schedules going forward.

Not only will each league team have nine conference opponents, but they’ll also have to schedule a Power Four opponent on top of that. That’s up to 10 high-quality games on the slate.

Finebaum pointed out that these changes make the SEC a potential juggernaut. That is, if the changes to make the schedule harder are, in fact, rewarded by the College Football Playoff’s newest metrics.

“I’m not making threats, because I don’t have any more control over it than anybody else, but I know some people who do,” Finebaum said. “And if they screw this up, they will be paying for it. I don’t know how or will but they should, because this is unequivocal what the SEC has laid down tonight.”