Paul Finebaum: Texas, Oklahoma to SEC, CFP expansion timelines could be accelerated this weekend

Change could be coming sooner than later in college football. The College Football Playoff is expanding to 12 teams as soon as 2024, and that could have a ripple effect on Oklahoma and Texas’ departures from the Big 12 to the SEC.

In fact, SEC Network host Paul Finebaum said both timelines could be accelerated this coming weekend.

This weekend is a big one for the SEC and the Big 12. Alabama and Texas are squaring off Saturday at noon ET in one of the highest-profile matchups of the season. Interestingly enough, the game will be on FOX — a network that could get involved with the expanded CFP — and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey will be at the game.

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During an appearance on “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning” on Tuesday, Finebaum said that group of people in one place could make for interesting conversations.

“I think, in talking to Greg Sankey yesterday, he put a somewhat cautious spin on where we are before ’26, but call me crazy, I find it very interesting that Sankey is going to be in Austin this weekend,” Finebaum said. “For a lot of reasons. … But I just have a strange feeling there will be conversations in Austin this weekend. Why? You have FOX executives there, you have ESPN people, you have Greg Sankey – to me, maybe this is a secret summit.

“I don’t have any information on this other than that Greg is going there, but it just seems like this could be a time to get all the people on the same page and say: ‘Hey, how can we move the needle here? How can we get this thing [done] in ’24.’ Because I really think that college football desperately needs it soon, for all the reasons we’ve talked about.”

Paul Finebaum: Other leagues have ‘incentives’ to push for CFP expansion

Finebaum said other Power 5 conferences have their reasons for wanting the CFP to expand early. Notably, the Big 12 and ACC would benefit from it, especially since the Big Ten and SEC are both moving to 16 teams in the coming years. But it takes dialogue, and Finebaum said it needs to happen soon.

“If you’re the ACC, especially the Big 12, you have an incentive to move this thing up,” Finebaum said. “And I just don’t buy the excuses: ‘Well there’s a lot of logistics.’ Come on, it can be done. It just takes a couple of people sitting in a room, especially ESPN executives and FOX executives, saying ‘OK, let’s do this, let’s do that, and make it happen today.’

“Why college football continues to stub its toe remains to be seen and defies imagination. I’m dreaming something up here and there’s no evidence to support what I just said, other than being hopeful we can get this thing done in a short period of time.”

Finebaum: I believe Texas and Oklahoma will be in the SEC by 2024

Regarding the conversations he thinks will happen in Austin this weekend, host Cole Cubelic asked Finebaum if he was referring to early CFP expansion or Oklahoma and Texas leaving for the SEC early. Currently, the plan is for the CFP to go to 12 teams by 2026, but rumors are swirling about potentially making that happen earlier than that.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma and Texas are due to leave for the SEC by 2025, and Finebaum thinks it’ll happen sooner than that.

“I’m also thinking about that, and yesterday Greg was as careful as he ever is because he has to because there’s a lot of lawyers out there ready to pounce if somebody says the wrong thing,” Finebaum said. “But right now I believe — this is me believing, not knowing — but I believe Texas and Oklahoma are going to be in the SEC in ‘24.

“To me, it makes way too much sense considering the Big Ten goes into effect with expansion and its new contracts by then. And I think it would put the SEC in a very odd place if USC and UCLA are in the Big Ten, their new contracts are in place, and the SEC is still waiting on Oklahoma and Texas to show up.”