Paul Finebaum Bashes Dabo Swinney's 12-Team CFP Theory As 'Just Plain Dumb'

Paul Finebaum isn’t subtle with his opinion of Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney after missing the College Football Playoff the past couple of years. Swinney commented on how he believes the expanded playoff will negatively affect how the end of the regular season plays out, and Finebaum couldn’t disagree more.

Swinney compared the 12-team playoff model to the NFL before telling media members, “Maybe you’re 11-0 and you go that rivalry game. But you play your biggest foe in the conference championship, and if you win that game, you’re going to get a bye. Those are things and decisions you’ll probably see play out all around college football.”

Finebaum reacted by calling that theory ‘just plain dumb.’

“[Dabo] used to be the voice of reason in college football. Now you’re just the get-off-my-lawn guy. Everybody knows what we’re doing here. Everyone knows this is essentially the NFL playoffs,” Finebaum said.

Finebaum harshly suggested that Swinney leave the analysis to the media personalities after bashing the Clemson coach’s theory.

“That is not breaking news Dabo. Your goal is not to find problems with this system. Your goal is to get back into the playoffs, someplace you haven’t been in a while,” he said.

There might be some painful truth to that statement from Finebaum as the 2023 Tigers team posted its lowest win total since 2010, Swinney’s second full season as head coach.

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